Respect Due: Horner’s Leadership Through Red Bull’s Worst Year

Christian Horner is praised for managing Red Bull’s turbulent 2024 season, marked by controversy, setbacks, and key staff departures.

Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing’s team principal, deserves praise for the way he handled “the worst year of his life,” according to Günther Steiner.

Controversy surrounded Horner even before the 2024 season began, when a woman accused the 50-year-old Briton of inappropriate and controlling behavior. After an investigation and an appeal, Red Bull’s board dismissed her complaint, clearing Horner of any wrongdoing.

Horner then had to oversee an especially challenging season for Red Bull amid internal political struggles, development issues, and on-track performance problems.

As Red Bull slipped to third place in the Constructors’ Championship, largely due to Sergio Perez’s performances, Max Verstappen still managed to secure a fourth consecutive world title.

The former Haas F1 team principal believes Horner deserves credit for how he managed the difficult circumstances at Red Bull.

“I think he will remember 2024 as the worst year of his life, you know, with everything that happened, and we need to give him credit,” Steiner told GP Blog.

“He always stood by his ideas. We’re not even talking about the beginning of the year, his private matters, but then it’s quite clear they had a weak driver in the team.”

“They couldn’t defend the Constructors’ World Championship because they only had one car.”

“They were fighting against a McLaren team with two very strong drivers. And I’m not saying Checo [Perez] isn’t a good driver, but he wasn’t last year. We have to say it.”

“In the past, he was a good driver, he won races, but last year, he underperformed. In the end, they had to deal with that, but it was obviously a tough year to keep the team together.”

Red Bull was also shaken by the departures of several key staff members before the 2025 season, with Adrian Newey joining Aston Martin F1 and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley leaving to become the new team boss at Sauber/Audi F1.

Steiner says the challenge Red Bull faces in finding replacements cannot be underestimated.

“Obviously, they’ve lost people. They lost Adrian, they lost Jonathan, and they’re going to lose strategy engineer Will Courtenay [to McLaren], who are all very good people.”

“And even though Red Bull has a strong second line, these people have been there for a long time. They know the ins and outs, and sometimes having fresh blood is a good thing, but you need more—replacing someone like Adrian Newey will be difficult.”

“But only time will tell what Christian can do. I think it’s not easy for him right now.”