Getting to work in Formula 1 is the dream of many motorsport fans, even more so if it comes to playing the role of team manager and being the star at the press conferences in grand prix that decide world championships. This is how Red Bull boss Christian Horner has lived since the team’s inception in the 2005 season.
A native of Leamington Spa [United Kingdom], the head of the group of energy drinks began his career in the world of competition in his native land in Formula 3 in 1994 , in addition to participating in Formula 3000 in 1997 , but little Gradually he moved into management when he founded Arden International in 1999 .
In just five courses with Red Bull he managed to climb to the top of the podium, at the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix with Sebastian Vettel, and precisely with the German he won four consecutive world titles from 2010 to 2013, in addition to the championships with Max Verstappen in 2021 and 2022.
However, Christian Horner ‘s dream was not to be the director of one of the most successful teams in the history of Formula 1. On the Diary of a CEO podcast, the Briton revealed what he wanted to be: “I wanted to be Evil Knievel, a stuntman. There was a show called The Fall Guy, Lee Majors was driving a big truck and I loved it.”
For those who didn’t know him, Robert Craig Knievel , better known as Evel Knievel, was an American stunt motorcyclist of the 1960s and 1970s, and one of his most remembered feats was jumping the Snake River Canyon in 1974.
“I was always obsessed with cars and speed, which fascinated me from a very young age. When I was 12 years old, I tried to save money and buy a vehicle,” the Englishman continued. “I found a twenty-year-old second-hand one in an ad in the back of a newspaper, I couldn’t drive it on grass, so we looked for a track and I realized it could run.”
The Red Bull boss also explained where his passion for four wheels and gasoline came from: “My family had a great influence, my father always liked cars, and he was passionate about motorcycles and racing, in addition, he worked as track marshal in his youth”.
“My mother always encouraged us to make our dreams come true. She taught us from a young age that we should not settle for ‘normal’, she was very determined,” said Horner. “That’s how I discovered the world of racing at 12 years old. Afterwards, my father and I traveled all over the country to compete and it became international.”
“I’ve never seen myself as a tennis player or anything like that, I just wanted to run and watch hours of racing video,” explained the Briton. “I studied every detail and always kept a close eye on what Nigel Mansell was doing.”
“If you have something in mind and you really want it, then it can be achieved. Then set a goal and focus on it,” said the head of the Red Bull team in the highest category of motorsport.
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