Horner rubs salt in the wounds after leaving Steiner out of a job

Christian Horner on Red Bull's success and hints at next step

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Christian Horner claims it was ‘obvious’ Guenther Steiner was not a technical leader when he eased him out of Red Bull Racing back in 2006. The team have gone on to flourish with the guidance of technical director Adrian Newey, while Steiner is currently the team principal at Haas.

Steiner spent two seasons as team boss at Jaguar before being appointed as Red Bull’s technical operations director in 2005. Horner became team principal in the same year, which proved to be the beginning of the end for the Italian. 

Horner not only approached Newey – then of McLaren – to give the team extra technical direction in 2006, but showed Steiner the door shortly afterwards as he was shipped out to help start a NASCAR team that same year.

The Red Bull boss has given a frank assessment of the change, claiming that it was immediately ‘obvious’ that Steiner was not the right fit and made the decision quickly.

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“It’s about getting the right people in the right roles, empowering them, creating the right atmosphere,” he told the i newspaper. “Guenther was and is a character but it was obvious he was not a technical leader.

“I identified what the team really needed was technical leadership and direction. So from a very early stage I made a point of bumping into Adrian.” Horner may not have ended up at Red Bull at all, as he explains of his start in F1: “Bernie [Ecclestone] was pushing me towards the Jordan team.

“Helmut [Marko] invited me to meet [Red Bull owner] Dietrich [Mateschitz] in Salzburg in the summer of 2004. The Jordan deal didn’t happen and Red Bull bought Jaguar. Dietrich invited me back at the end of 2004 and asked me to be team principal.”

Horner has gone on to enjoy great success with the team, scooping up five Constructors’ Championships and six Drivers’ Championships along the way. He could add to that tally this year with Red Bull establishing themselves as the class of the field early on.

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have notched successive one-twos to kick off the campaign, with each driver clinching one win apiece. The Mexican took top spot last time out in Saudi Arabia, although Verstappen remained top of the standings by virtue of nabbing the fastest-lap bonus point. 

As a result, Red Bull are almost 50 points clear of their competition, with Aston Martin the only other team to have stood on the podium so far in 2023 as Mercedes and Ferrari continue to falter.

Steiner, meanwhile, left Red Bull for good in 2008 but remained in the United states, where he met racing team owner Gene Haas. Since 2014, the 57-year-old has headed up Haas’ F1 outfit.

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