Christian Horner hails the importance of SELFISHNESS in great F1 drivers

Horner in persconferentie Miami — Photo: © LAT Images

Christian Horner

Horner hails the importance of SELFISHNESS in great F1 drivers

Christian Horner says he enjoys working with mavericks drivers who will voice their opinions

Dan McCarthy

Friday 30 June 2023 08:57 Updated: 09:08

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Christian Horner has insisted that Red Bull's maverick approach has been the backbone of their success and has allowed them to compete with the established likes of Ferrari and Mercedes.

Two weeks ago, the team celebrated their 100th victory in F1 after making the big entrance in 2005, taking over from the old Jaguar team.

They have had two stints of total dominance in the sport in that time, firstly with Sebastian Vettel as he won four world titles between 2010 and 2013 and now with Max Verstappen who has won each of the last two championships and looks in an incredibly strong position to make it a hat-trick.

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Over the years, Red Bull have had some superb talent at the wheel with Verstappen, Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Mark Webber, and Sergio Perez all playing their part.

Horner and Verstappen have celebrated many wins together

Horner claimed the team's approach to 'mavericks' has paid off, and feels like he can perform best when put under pressure by divers.

“You need mavericks. Sometimes they can make your life a little uncomfortable, but you need them to push those boundaries," he told Sky's Secrets of Success documentary.

"We would never, as a subsidiary of an energy drinks company, have been able to take on Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and all the other manufacturers over the years to achieve what we have without that maverick approach."

Horner: F1 stars must be "ruthless and selfish"

Horner believes any successful F1 driver must have certain qualities in order to go on and be one of the greats.

In particular, he cites the need for drivers to be completely single-minded in their approach.

And the 49-year-old says it is down to him to make sure it doesn't spill over into something that will negatively affect the team.

“The great drivers and the really competitive ones, the ones that make it in Formula 1, there has to be a ruthlessness and a selfishness to their character otherwise they would not achieve what they manage to do," the Red Bull supremo added.

“I think that it's a matter of keeping that in check. There's no room for a primadonna, because at that point it becomes bigger than the team."