Christian Horner made the wildest F1 prediction, turns out he was right

When Christian Horner made what appeared to be the wildest of predictions about the Las Vegas Grand Prix way back in early 2023, we mocked. Turns out, after all, he was right.

The 52-year-old Englishman was then of course still very much team principal of Red Bull Racing, very much a 'Drive to Survive' darling and very much at the forefront of the sport's attempt to break into the US market.

In March of 2023, when Horner looked ahead to the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, he spoke to media about his expectations for the first November showpiece on the famous Strip. His words, as always with Horner, were box office gold.

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'The biggest sporting event on the globe'

"I think you've got to protect the old circuits like the Monacos and the Silverstones and the Monzas. But then to bring in new circuits, we had Miami last year as a new venue and this year we've got Las Vegas," he began.

"I have never seen hype around a race like that, I think it's going to be the biggest sporting event on the globe this year. The demand for that race is off the charts."

Hang on a minute, did he say the "biggest sporting event on the globe"? Yes, yes he did. That would mean bigger than anything else? Bigger than the Super Bowl?

Now F1 may be a global sport, but cracking America is not easy as many a superstar and organisation have found out down the years. And putting on an event in the US which is bigger than the Super Bowl? Good luck with that.

Mission accomplished, per Domenicali

The first three editions of that Saturday night race have been a huge commercial success, that is clear. So much so that earlier this year F1 signed a 10-year extension with local promoters to ensure it continues through at least 2037.

On Thursday though the sport's CEO Stefano Domenicali made a claim which backs up Horner's bold prediction from more than three years ago.

Speaking on Liberty Media's H2 Earnings call, he told media and investors: "I don’t want to forget that if we compare the economic impact that F1 did versus Super Bowl, with due respect, we were bigger.

"That means the potential to keep growing, control even more the cost, having now the opportunity of having agreed the 10-year extension with LVCVA means that can really build on even stronger the possibility for this Grand Prix to be even more profitable. That is already the case because this is something that we knew."

To be exact, F1 claims that the annual race in Vegas has delivered $3.2 billion for the Southern Nevada region since its 2023 inception. That includes a mind-boggling $1.5bn for that debut year.

Meanwhile just three months later the Super Bowl LVIII took centre stage at the gleaming new Allegiant Stadium, but delivered 'only' $1bn.

So once again Horner (or Hornerdamus) got it spot on, and some of us were very wrong.

What is Horner doing now, and when is he coming back to F1?

This is the question we all want answered, when is Horner coming back? Because to be quite honest, the sport is poor (and just a little duller) without his abrasive paddock presence.

Right now he is awaiting the right opportunity to get back into the paddock, he's been open about the fact it probably would not be 'just' as a team principal.

Horner is hoping to return with more control, a bigger role and ideally a piece of the actual pie via an equity stake.

He has been linked with a group of investors looking to purchase a 24 percent stake in Alpine, and has reportedly held talks with Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll.

But for now he remains on the F1 sidelines, currently advising London private equity house Oakley Capital on opportunities in the sports investment space.

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Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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