“Conflict may arise” is Horners’ warning to both of his drivers at Red Bull as the senior management are fully aware of the implications when considering the intense competition between their two drivers for the F1 title.
There is no doubt that this Formula 1 season is a testament to the power of the Red Bull team compared to the rest of the field. Max Verstappen and Sergio “Checo Perez” have taken five wins from five races to lead the drivers’ and constructors’ championships with very little challenge apart from Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin.
Remember the team
Christian Horner, head of the Austrian team, made it clear that both the Dutch driver and the Mexican driver are not just representing themselves, because behind the success they have had there are many people working to achieve their goals.
Red Bull knows that if things continue in the same way then the championship will be decided between its two drivers, so they have to be aware that in the fight for the title they are representing other people.
“Conflict can arise, but you have to be clear about that beforehand and talk to them about compromising and making it clear that they are not in that car alone.
“They represent 1500 employees of our team and all the partners and shareholders. So they represent much more than themselves. Sometimes that happens, but the most important thing is that we treat them equally.
“At the end of the day it’s about what they do on the track: number one with us is driving at the front,” Horner explained on the Extraordinary Tales podcast.
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Mercedes boss offers ‘advice’ to Horner
Certainly no stranger to driver conflict (remember Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber?), Horner has been given some friendly advice by rival team boss Toto Wolff.
Speaking in Miami during the previous Grand Prix, the Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admitted that Christian Horner will almost certainly find himself in a tricky situation this season when it comes to managing the battle between teammates for the world championship, much like the Austrian experienced a few years ago when Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were battling for the championship between 2014 and 2016.
“From my experience, it’s a very tricky job ahead for Christian [Horner] and the team,” Toto Wolff said last weekend in Miami.
“Both drivers will obviously always try to make sure that they are treated fairly and equitably while trying to get an advantage.”
“In the case of our team, it was important to maintain a lot of transparency and clarity, to discuss things before we went racing on Sunday and to set boundaries.”
“In the end, both drivers – even when it was Nico [Rosberg] and Lewis – respected the team’s opinion, whereas we recognised that they were fighting with each other.”
“Looking back, there are things we probably would have done differently, in 2016 in particular. But you have to find the right balance between accepting that these two guys are racing for a championship – and that it’s happening in the same garage – and at the same time they’re part of a wider structure.
“I think it’s not easy, because they are competitors.”
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A truly iconic moment 😍#OnThisDay in 2012, Pastor Maldonado became an #F1 race winner 🏆 pic.twitter.com/EdCkhFznYV
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 13, 2023
Horner’s reaction
Asked to respond to his Mercedes counterpart, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said, “We do everything Toto said, but we do it a little bit better!”
“Look, I think it’s primarily a luxury issue. I think any manager in the pit lane would hope to have this problem.”
“It’s a situation we’ve had before and I think the most important thing, as Toto mentioned, is to make sure that paranoia doesn’t set in and that both drivers are treated in the same way.”
“You work to ensure equality to the point of which rider comes out of the garage first each weekend. Then it alternates, even in the briefings, who speaks first?”
“But it’s still racing, it’s F1, and sometimes something happens like a safety car or a pit stop, and you can’t control every aspect of the sport. There are always variables.”
“I think as long as the drivers know that they both have an equal chance, and that ultimately it’s what they do on the circuit that counts, that’s how you want it to be, not by reliability for example, which could play a key role in a championship fight between your two drivers within your own team.”
After the Miami Grand Prix won by Max Verstappen, the Dutchman still leads the drivers’ championship by a comfortable 14 points over his teammate Sergio Perez.
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