Christian Horner is now indispensable as head of the successful Red Bull Formula 1 team.
The Briton was appointed when the energy drink manufacturer took over Jaguar in 2004 and has now been one of the longest-serving Team Principals on the grid. He's led the team to six Constructors' Championships and seven Drivers' Championships with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
The 2023 season was perhaps the best year ever for Red Bull with 21 wins in 22 races, unprecedented dominance that has not been seen since the 1988 season from McLaren.
This success saw him upgraded to a OBE in the King Charles III's New Years Honours list for services to motorsport. Despite offers to manage other teams in his years at the helm of Red Bull, Horner did not feel the need to entertain any other prospects.
"It's always very flattering when you receive an offer or interest from another team, but my heart is here," Horner told Motorsport."I've built the team, I bought in from the very beginning, I feel a responsibility to the people and the shareholders and all the partners that we have."
Would Horner himself want to become a shareholder in the team? "No, because Red Bull has always owned the team 100% and supports us in a great way. I myself have always treated the team as if it were my own money, so we spend it wisely and responsibly."
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Horner: Adrian's role has adapted over the years
Adrian Newey has long been hailed as the mastermind to Red Bull's success over the years, having produced car designs that have often led to other teams copying their concepts.
Although Newey's role has been reduced in the overall design of the car in recent years, he has been parachuted in to work on key developments when needed.
The RB19 is the latest example of a car that is an all-round dominator in races, enabling both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to exploit its performance on the complicated Pirelli tyres.
But Horner believes Newey is just one key member in an important mix of people within their world class technical team, which recently lost Chief Engineering Officer Rob Marshall to McLaren.
"Adrian is a big part of the team and our achieved performance. But of course his role has evolved over the years and the technical team under him, led by Pierre Wache, is doing a great job. They are not dependent on Adrian," said Horner.
"Adrian has the ability to come in, go out and work on other projects. I think that's part of the evolution of any team."
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