Christian Horner Q&A: What we’ve achieved is remarkable 24 Nov 2013 Red Bull’s season could rightly be categorized as magnificent even before the team rounded off the year with yet another one-two in Brazil. After the race team principal Christian Horner spoke about the action in Sao Paulo, Mark Webbers departure from F1 and Red Bull’s record-breaking season in general… Q: Christian, nine wins in a row - and thirteen overall in the season - that makes your competitors look like extras. How is that possible? After all, we are speaking about the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren... Christian Horner: Ha, personally I put it down to the Pirelli test that we did in August! (laughs) But let’s be serious: it is a combination of a lot of hard work and an unbelievable performance by Sebastian. He’s driven with such consistency, such accuracy, and such speed - so what he’s achieved this year is outstanding. It has been an unbelievable year for him, for the team - and for Mark to sign off his formula One career with a strong race. When I went up with him on the podium I asked him: ‘Are you sure that you want to retire? Your move on Lewis around the outside into Turn 5 was massively impressive.’ It is great for him to go while he is still at the top of his game. Q: Your answer explains why Red Bull Racing was so good, but why did you make the others look so pale? What did you have that no one else did? CH: Well, we can only focus on ourselves. We know that we have some strong opponents - and there are a lot of clever people involved in the other teams. What we’ve achieved this year, as a team, is the result of working closer, working harder and working more effectively than any of the others. We are always looking inwardly. Of course, Adrian and the technical team have done a fantastic job, but so also have all the unsung heroes. All have contributed to this fantastic season. Q: Sebastian outdid himself this season… CH: …and I don’t think that he can quite believe what he has achieved: nine consecutive victories in one season. He was the only driver since July to win a Grand Prix - and now we are at the end of November! That is outstanding - and the manner in which he won as well. He has been so dominant. And I have said it before: he will continue to improve and we probably haven’t seen the best of him! Q: You have kept developing this year’s car deep into the second half of the season - will that have any negative impact on next season or are there plenty of resources to cope? CH: Of course we have been pushing the boundaries - and Adrian is never famous for starting next year’s car early - and it is the same case for the RB10. Thankfully we managed to secure this championship reasonably early which has enabled us to shift all the focus to the RB10, while Ferrari and Mercedes have been battling each other for the runners up positions. Q: How rewarding was it to win in such style here in Sao Paulo given you didn’t do any dry running on Friday and Saturday? CH: It was indeed a pretty difficult race. We had three or four scenarios that we discussed and talked about this morning because obviously with the green track and no dry running - and we have seen that the Pirellis are not too keen on a green surface - it was a very pleasant surprise for us to see that we got good longevity out of the soft tyres. In fact it was so good that we put another set on for the second stint. That was great to see. Q: There was an issue in Mark’s pit stop - and one in Sebastian’s too. That’s not Red Bull’s style. Can you explain what happened? CH: In Mark’s case there was an issue with the left rear gun which dropped him behind Fernando (Alonso) and he had to pass him for a second time. But Mark always had enough in hand to secure P2. In Sebastian’s case, we only called him in because we believed that there would be a safety car and we didn’t want him to get caught at the end of the straight behind the safety car with everybody having a free stop behind him. Is was a massively late call for Sebastian - the boys were already expecting Mark for a scheduled stop - and that created a bit of confusion to get the right tyres on the right car. And with the margin that we had we didn’t give anything away. Q: Mark Webber has signed off on his Formula One career with a podium. What will you miss most about him not being with the team next season? CH: The seven years that Mark has been with the team has been an incredible journey - for him and the team. I had tried to sign him a few years earlier than that to drive for the team that I had in Formula 3000 - so his pace has never been in doubt. He has grown ever since he has been with Red Bull Racing. He has played such a big part in us winning four constructors’ championships. Adrian and his guys have really enjoyed working with him and found his feedback to be valuable, and his pace has always been impressive. It’s just been unlucky for him that his team mate is called Sebastian Vettel. But the way he has now signed off on his career is remarkable as you see so many sportsmen going out with a bit of a whimper - he is still at the top of his game. I think that people still underestimate how good Sebastian is - and that Mark is a very fine racing driver and he got the absolute best out of him. Q: Red Bull Racing has been brushed-off many times as being just an ‘energy drink team’ - but now you are legends. What do you make of that? CH: Well, it is the quality of opposition that makes it so rewarding, and yes, what we’ve achieved is in the history books now. If Red Bull Racing doesn’t do anything else, what we’ve achieved is quite remarkable. And being a legend: I feel too young for that! (laughs)
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 02:39:38 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015