Christian Horner says it was an "obvious" decision to let Guenther Steiner leave the Red Bull Formula 1 team back in 2006. Steiner was already involved with the Milton Keynes squad when it was Jaguar before Dietrich Mateschitz bought the team, rebadging them as Red Bull Racing for 2005. By 2006, Adrian Newey had decided to leave McLaren and join the team - being eased into lead technical role, with Steiner redeployed to head up Red Bull's NASCAR efforts. Reflecting on the decision to replace Steiner, Horner says it was "obvious."
Horner on Steiner
"If you look after people and they feel comfortable in the environment they are in they will show you loyalty,” Horner explained to the I newspaper. "It’s about getting the right people in the right roles, empowering them, creating the right atmosphere. "At Arden (the junior team he ran before Red Bull), people did not need to know how close to the wind we were sailing, the risks that were being taken. It was seat of the pants stuff. "I was looking to see how I could take Arden into F1. Bernie [Ecclestone] was pushing me towards the Jordan team. "Helmut invited me to meet Dietrich in Salzburg in the summer of 2004. "The Jordan deal didn’t happen and Red Bull bought Jaguar. Dietrich invited me back at the end of 2004 and asked me to be Team Principal.” "Guenther was and is a character but it was obvious he was not a technical leader. "I identified what the team really needed was technical leadership and direction. "So from a very early stage I made a point of bumping into Adrian." Since 2006, Newey-designed Red Bull cars have won 94 Grands Prix, six Drivers' and five Constructors' titles with the team looking set to make that seven and six, respectively after their crushing start to the '23 season.
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