Horner: Red Bull success 'not dependant' on Adrian Newey

Christian Horner is now indispensable as head of the successful RedBull Formula 1 team. The Briton was appointed when the energy drinkmanufacturer took over Jaguar in 2004 and has now been one of thelongest-serving Team Principals on the grid. He's led the team tosix Constructors' Championships and seven Drivers' Championshipswith Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. The 2023 season wasperhaps the best year ever for Red Bull with 21 wins in 22 races,unprecedented dominance that has not been seen since the 1988season from McLaren. This success saw him upgraded to a OBE in theKing Charles III's New Years Honours list for services tomotorsport. Despite offers to manage other teams in his years atthe helm of Red Bull, Horner did not feel the need to entertain anyother prospects. "It's always very flattering when you receive anoffer or interest from another team, but my heart is here," Hornertold Motorsport . "I've built the team, I bought in from the verybeginning, I feel a responsibility to the people and theshareholders and all the partners that we have." Would Hornerhimself want to become a shareholder in the team? "No, because RedBull 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." Horner: Adrian's role hasadapted over the years Adrian Newey has long been hailed as themastermind to Red Bull's success over the years, having producedcar designs that have often led to other teams copying theirconcepts. Although Newey's role has been reduced in the overalldesign of the car in recent years, he has been parachuted in towork on key developments when needed. The RB19 is the latestexample of a car that is an all-round dominator in races, enablingboth Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to exploit its performance onthe complicated Pirelli tyres. But Horner believes Newey is justone key member in an important mix of people within their worldclass technical team, which recently lost Chief Engineering OfficerRob Marshall to McLaren . "Adrian is a big part of the team and ourachieved performance. But of course his role has evolved over theyears and the technical team under him, led by Pierre Wache, isdoing a great job. They are not dependent on Adrian," said Horner."Adrian has the ability to come in, go out and work on otherprojects. I think that's part of the evolution of any team."