Horner: Elon Musk was impressed by the technology of Formula 1

In the days of the Miami Grand Prix, in the Hard Rock Stadium paddock and in the pits of the teams, you saw many different types of celebrities from sports, show business and just business, including billionaires from the top ten of the Forbes -list.

On the McLaren pit wall, next to Zach Brown, was Jeff Bezos, founder and chairman of the board of directors of the Amazon empire, and in the pits of Red Bull Racing, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and many others. spoke to Christian Horner.

“It was nice to see him come to Formula 1 with a renewed focus on internal combustion engines,” Horner jokingly replied to a question about Musk during an interview with the Financial Times. “I think our technology made a strong impression on him. Of course, he is an incredibly interesting and intelligent person, and he wanted to know more about the batteries used in Formula 1, about the power and efficiency of our car.

And then he decided to challenge us by offering to race one of his electric cars, but realized they could only cover half the distance of the Grand Prix.

He works with Larry Ellison at Oracle, our main sponsor. It is always great to meet such people, because they are completely immersed in the technological sphere and are distinguished by a special vision of the prospects for its development. There will be big changes in Formula 1 in 2026, there will be new technical regulations and the role of the battery will become even bigger, so it would of course be great if we could attract such a talented person to invest in Formula 1 . .”

The head of the Red Bull Racing team was also asked about a future collaboration with the American company Ford.

“Our partnership with Ford has a lot to do with the growing role of electric technology, which gives us greater access to these technologies,” said Horner. “After all, our team is just a division of an energy drink company, but we are starting to make our own engines. That is why it is very useful to have the support of a company like Ford, which invests billions in battery development.

In general, the factory teams of major car manufacturers are very disappointed when they are beaten by Red Bull Racing, owned by the carbonated drink maker. But our example just shows that if you manage to attract the right people to the project, give them the right tools and create the right atmosphere, you can achieve all goals.

As for Elon Musk, it’s impossible to predict if he has any plans regarding Formula 1. It’s great that he showed such an interest in our sport, in the technological side of things, but what does he really think about this ? hard to say”.