Red Bull F1: Christian Horner and Adrian Newey ‘Trajectory to the top'[F1-Gate.com]

He talked about how Christian Horner and Adrian Newey, who led Red Bull Racing to glory, came together and what they learned from defeat to rise to the top.

In 2005, Christian Horner became Team Principal of a new team called Red Bull Racing and was fighting for his first world championship. Horner was new to F1 at the time and the team was unprecedented, but he knew what he needed. More specifically, he knew who he needed. Adrian Newey.

“What the team lacked at the time was clear technical direction,” Horner said.

“Adrian was the greatest engineer in F1 history, so it was a question of getting his attention and bringing him to Red Bull Racing.

After an early career at Leighton House until the 1990 season, Adrian Newey won the title as technical director of Williams and then moved on to McLaren.

So Christian Horner decided literally “step by step” on the best way. In his first F1 season in 2005, Horner made sure Newey showed up just in time to work at the circuit. Newey recalls:

“I remember Silverstone very clearly, but Christian always met me when I entered the paddock, throughout the 2005 season.”

“After that, we had a chance to meet again and started talking a bit. Before long, a gentleman in a black leather jacket suddenly appeared from behind the truck and said: ‘I’m Helmut Marko. Here’s the your contact number. Let’s talk on the phone.'”

As history has shown, Adrian Newey had a phone call with Dr Marko and joined Red Bull Racing as a colleague of Horner. The first step in the history of Red Bull Racing, where a newcomer shines as world champion and returns to the throne after 8 years, started here.

And in the 2022 season, that story came to fruition as the team won the double title for the first time since the 2013 season. Max Verstappen won the Drivers’ Championship for the second consecutive season and Sergio Perez played a decisive role in winning the constructors’ championship for the team’s fifth time.

British sports journalist and TV presenter Laura Winter was present in this special interview in an informal atmosphere, she spoke of the bonds that have been born through repeated efforts towards the goal, and how the many successes and the slow period in between have contributed to building a strong team.

13-time F1 winner David Coulthard played a central role in this story. Newey and Coulthard have known each other since their Williams/McLaren days, and Coulthard was the lead driver for Red Bull Racing’s debut 2005 season.

Red Bull Racing was initially thought to be an easy-going “party team”, but Coulthard said: “Behind that image is a serious, well-funded, successful, ambitious and hungry team. There is a group of drivers “, persuaded Adrian Newey .

“David was a good friend and I had a lot of faith in his opinion.

“Red Bull Racing has always carried a huge disco so I was wondering if this team would be able to take it seriously. I thought

2008 season Sebastian Vettel, who had already won the Grand Prix at the Italian Grand Prix with Scuderia Toro Rosso (currently Scuderia AlphaTauri), sister team of Red Bull Racing, retired in the 2009 season like Coulthard. called a “foundation” it has morphed into something bigger.

Chinese GP of the 2009 season, Sebastian Vettel, who joined the team for the third time, gave the team the first victory for Red Bull Racing, and in the following five seasons, he won four world championships and won a total of 38 wins, rewriting the F1 record book. Set Red Bull Racing as the benchmark for F1, less than 10 years.

Christian Horner looks back on the career of Sebastian Vettel, who made 300 starts and retired after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final round of the 2022 season, says his combination of skill and dedication to excellence has made him one of the greatest F1 drivers ever He says he was one of them.

“It was clear that Sebastian was an exceptional talent. At that time, Toro Rosso offered young Red Bull drivers the opportunity to step up. He turned out to be the owner

“Sebastian was an extraordinary hard worker. An extraordinary dedication. He made every effort. Often he was the one who stayed in the technical office until the end of Fridays and Saturdays.”

Adrian Newey believes this commitment shown by Sebastian Vettel inspired him to raise the bar for the team.

“Sebastian had a very methodical approach and was very hard on himself,” Newey said.

“When he makes a mistake, try to figure out why he made it and what he could have done better. Rarely has he made the same mistake twice.”

“That kind of dedication poured into the team. The crew saw Sebastian’s work and his commitment, so the team was ready to work harder.”

Sebastian Vettel’s track record at Red Bull Racing remains unbroken, but Verstappen’s impressive progress in recent years could put him ahead of Vettel in the not-too-distant future.

Max Verstappen, who joined Red Bull Racing after 23 races with Toro Rosso, suddenly won the 2016 Spanish GP, his first race after the move. Verstappen eventually captured the 2021 season title in dramatic fashion and in the 2022 season he achieved a title defense with 15 wins and a total of 454 points, the most in F1 history.

Christian Horner and Adrian Newey saw all sides of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen in the team. The two world champions have achieved success in contrasting ways, but Horner highlights one thing they have in common.

“I think they’re very different types of riders,” Horner said.

“Sebastian’s approach to work is very German. “He’s hungrier and more determined than ever. So while the two are very different in many ways, they are very similar in their determination, their desire to win, their commitment to be the best.”

“Whatever Max pursues in his career, Max has achieved so much in a very short period of time. It’s terrifying to imagine what awaits him at the age of 25.”

Drivers come and go, including world champions – this is the cyclical nature of F1. However, Horner and Newey, who battled together for 17 seasons, have learned as much in their slow seasons as they have in their blockbusters, and big budgets, state-of-the-art equipment, and large amounts of data are the norm. in F1, where it’s becoming, everyone agrees that the most important thing is still the ‘people’.

Looking back on the 2014-2018 season, when Red Bull Racing only sporadically won while Mercedes continued to dominate both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles, Adrian Newey said:

“One of Red Bull Racing’s strengths is that we stayed focused on our work and persevered through those difficult times.”

“Once we had a strong power unit again thanks to our partnership with Honda, we were able to catch up.”

Christian Horner nods his head.

“It was a difficult period (2014-2018) when we were suddenly forced to fight after dominating the league four seasons in a row. One team was way ahead of the others. I did it,” says Horner.

“Organizations accustomed to the taste of victory can easily get discouraged or lose sight of it. The most important thing is to keep the team together and focus on what they can control and where they can influence. During that time we had a great bond and continuity period of pressure ”.

“With the exception of 2015, we were winning a little more every season. The only challenge was finding the right power unit for our package.”

With the 2022 season already in the rearview mirror, Newey, like all engineers, has his sights set on next season, working on the rules to keep the team on top.

“Ferrari will not slow down,” Newey said.

While the future is unpredictable, what is clear between Horner and Newey is that their collaborative system, soon approaching its 20th anniversary, has been a factor in delivering results and what lies ahead. It means the two will continue to stay aligned throughout the season.

When Christian Horner and Adrian Newey’s relationship has lasted so far, “I think it’s a relationship built on trust and friendship and mutual respect for work,” Horner said.

“It’s a trust that allows us to focus on each other’s work and keep doing it,” Newey says succinctly.
“The real factors that make our relationship successful are our relaxed working style, trust and friendship.”

Category: F1 / Red Bull