F1's greatest ever signing? How Horner's Newey swoop set up Red Bull for glory

Red Bull

F1's greatest signing? How Horner's Newey swoop set up Red Bull for glory

It was the signing which paved the way for title after title in Milton Keynes

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Sunday 26 March 2023 08:57 Updated: 10:45

Red Bull's rise to F1 prominence can be traced back to one tumultuous moment in history, the signing of Adrian Newey.

Back in 2006 Christian Horner was a relatively new team principal making his way in the brutally tough business of top-level motorsport. He needed somebody to elevate his team, quite simply one with the ability to produce a winning car.

The move Horner made was one which would change the face of the sport for the next 17 years. And it was a sliding doors moment for two of the sport's most prominent figures.

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At the time Red Bull's technical operations director was one Guenther Steiner - now Haas team principal and a bona fide TV superstar thanks to the hit Netflix show 'Drive to Survive'. But at that stage he was not what Horner needed.

When the chance to hire Newey - widely acclaimed as the sport's greatest mind - Horner did not blink. The now 64-year-old made the leap from McLaren, and the course of F1 history was changed forever.

Christian Horner on signing Adrian Newey

Horner now reflects on the move, and his thinking at the time was very simple and very clear.

He told iNews: “Guenther was and is a character but it was obvious he was not a technical leader. I identified what the team really needed was technical leadership and direction. So from a very early stage I made a point of bumping into Adrian.”

Bumping into Newey, as Horner puts it, paved the way for a golden era at Red Bull while Steiner was redeployed Stateside to set up the team's NASCAR operation there.

Six drivers' titles and five constructors' championship wins followed, and now the team is dominating the sport once again with the mighty RB19.

Quite simply it will go down in history as one of F1's defining moments.