Christian Horner F1 News: Star Wars villain jibe blasted at Red Bull chief

Red Bull boss Christian Horner alongside Star Wars villains Darth Vader, Darth Maul and Palpatine — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Off the Track

Horner blasted with incredible Star Wars villain jibe

Christian Horner has been given an extraordinary comparison

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Thursday 30 January 2025 22:57

Christian Horner has been compared to an infamous Star Wars villain following a sensational claim over how he has run the Red Bull Formula 1 team.

Horner has been in charge since the team's inception in 2005 following Red Bull's buyout of the previous struggling Jaguar outfit and A New Hope was promised under his regime.

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Since then he has been pivotal to transforming the Milton Keynes outfit's fortunes, helping Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen win eight drivers' titles between them, with Red Bull collecting six constructors' championships along the way.

One of the most dominating seasons during this run was the 2023 campaign, where Red Bull won an incredible 21 of the 22 races.

But now Horner has been compared to an infamous Star Wars character by Battlestar Galactica star Katee Sackhoff, who has become a huge F1 fan in recent years.

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Horner compared with Palpatine

When asked about F1 stars as 'Mandalorians', a spin-off of the Star Wars saga, which she also starred in, the actress was left in no doubt over who Horner resembled after naming one of biggest villains of the Star Wars series to fit the Red Bull chief's profile.

"I feel like Christian Horner - he's a little Palpatine", she told the Red Flags podcast.

"Everybody loves an underdog, and then, you know, you surpass that, and then you win all the time, and then everybody loves to hate you. So I'm very aware that that my animosity towards Christian Horner is just that I don't want them to win anymore.

"We have to admit that the 2023, season was so boring. But then again, I was not watching back when Lewis [Hamilton] won seven. Yeah, so I can't say... was it similar?"

Sackhoff was referring to Hamilton's period of dominance prior to Red Bull's return to form in 2021, when his Mercedes team won eight constructors' championships in a row from 2014 to 2021, with Hamilton winning six world titles along the way to add to his 2007 McLaren triumph and Nico Rosberg winning another for Mercedes in 2016.

Red Bull enter 2026 having only finished third in 2024, a poor season covered only by Verstappen's championship win as McLaren ended the season as champions and with plenty of momentum.

That means the big question for F1 2025 is will Horner's Empire strike back, or can Hamilton lead a Return of the Jedi redemption arc with Ferrari?

Red Bull Formula 1 Christian Horner