Horner reveals "blood, sweat and tears" cost of Red Bull success

Sam Hall
Wednesday 12 October 2022 13:38 - Updated: 17:54

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has revealed the "blood, sweat and tears" price of success after Max Verstappen secured his second F1 world title.

Red Bull ended a seven-year period of Mercedes dominance with the Dutchman's maiden drivers' championship crown last term.

And the team has gone from strength to strength in the new technical era of the sport, scoring 14 wins from 18 races, 12 of which have seen Verstappen take to the top step of the podium.

“To do what we did last year and turn up with a car as competitive as we had, being the last team to transition onto it, under massive pressure this year with all of the cost cap and everything else, there have been a lot of blood, sweat and tears go into it," said Horner.

“I think everybody within the factory at Red Bull, all of our partners, all of our technical partners have just stepped it up another gear this year and it has been phenomenal.”

Following the Japanese Grand Prix, the FIA judged that Red Bull had exceeded the budget cap spending limit, something that the team is "surprised and disappointed" by.

Red Bull technical team 'the strongest ever'

Verstappen's title success was the 12th time that a driver has ended the year at the top of the standings in a car designed by Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey.

Should the team continue to wrap up the constructors' championship, it will be Newey's 11th following.

Paying tribute to the 63-year-old and the entire technical team, Horner added: “I think Adrian and the whole technical team - Pierre Waché, our technical director, Enrico Balbo, Craig Skinner [chief designer], Ben Waterhouse [head of performance engineering] – I think this is the strongest technical team that we’ve ever had.

"And that’s testimony to the hard work that goes on behind the scenes that delivers this kind of performance.”