Christian Horner: I love my job

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner spoke of his typical work schedule with the recent Australian Grand Prix as an example. But he started from afar and remembered that more than a quarter of a century ago, when he was racing himself, he had already mastered the profession of a manager.

Christian Horner: “In my youth I not only participated in races, but also managed a small business, and I myself had to deal with all the problems associated with this – finding financing, handling taxes, booking hotels, paying people salaries, rent specialists in. In short, everything in a row.

When you grow and develop in the world of motor racing, this is a great school and I’ve been lucky because I’ve been through it. I got a real life experience during that time, speaking in the then Formula 2. But over the years everything changes, and if you look at the scale of our company now, the Red Bull Racing team may have already grown to four times bigger than in 2005, when I started working here.

To be successful, you need a great team of great people by your side. Red Bull Racing has a great team and our people work in different divisions – Red Bull Powertrains, Red Bull Advanced Technologies, in the Formula 1 team. You are only as good as your team is good. Of course, one must be able to delegate powers and share responsibilities at the same time.

In general, the race weekend schedule consists of several meetings, briefings on tactics development, meetings with sponsors and the press. For example, in Melbourne, this part of my program started on Monday evening and mostly ended on Friday afternoon. Fortunately, Saturday was freer, except that I also had to meet with sponsors in the evening, and then of course the day of the race came.

Track work continues non-stop from the moment you arrive at the track. Every day of the weekend there is something going on, it’s like a motorsport festival.

At the start of the Grand Prix I am always in the garage. It’s already a habit, I have to be there, and if our team has already won 95 races, why change it? I think there is a little bit of superstition that creeps into your Grand Prix preparation process. In my opinion, it just helps to tune in psychologically.

The work you do should be loved, and I love my job. I am passionate about motorsport, Formula 1, and when I flew to the Australian Grand Prix for the 19th time, I experienced the same joy, as if it were the first time … “

Of course, Christian Horner had something to rejoice about, and when he flew away from Melbourne, because his racer, Max Verstappen, got another trophy for the team by winning the Australian Grand Prix. After three rounds of the season, Red Bull Racing has three wins to its name and is almost twice as many points in the team standings as its closest rivals.