25/06/2025 10:55
Christian Horner believes part of Red Bull being disliked in F1 is
its recent success and defeating British drivers, despite being
based in the United Kingdom. The team principal of the Milton
Keynes squad maintains the "best way to become unpopular is to
win", which he points out has become habitual for the six-time F1
constructors' champions since joining the paddock in 2005. Having
witnessed significant change behind the scenes in F1 since then ,
he recently defended Red Bull from "keyboard warriors" , something
that has grown ever-more prevalent with the advent of social media.
Hostility has also spread to race tracks and other F1 events, like
the F175 season launch held at the O2 Arena in London in February.
At that event, Horner was welcomed with a chorus of boos when he
appeared on stage, even though British himself. The jeering was in
stark contrast the adulation British teams and drivers received.
Nonetheless, he insists he has "always operated" the same way,
regardless of whatever feelings that might invoke from his rivals,
the media and F1 fans. "Inevitably, you're not going to be able to
please everybody," Horner told PlanetF1.com . "Things get played
out in the media and so on. But I've always been the same person.
"I've always operated the way I operate. I expect 100 per cent, and
I'll give 100 per cent. "But sometimes that makes you unpopular
with your rivals. The best way to become unpopular in this business
is to win, and we've done a fair amount of that over the last few
years." British beating British In just over 20 seasons at the helm
of Red Bull, Horner has overseen 124 grand prix victories, the most
of any team in the 21st Century, as well as eight drivers'
championships to go with the six constructors' crowns. The titles
have come during two distinct periods of domination, first at the
hand of Germany's Sebastian Vettel and most recently with Dutchman
Max Verstappen. Furthermore, both beat British drivers in their
respective spells of success, which Horner feels is part of why Red
Bull is not as popular as other British-based teams. "Of course,
there's an element of that," the 51-year-old said. "Since David
Coulthard, we've never had a British driver. "We won four times
with Sebastian Vettel, who beat Lewis [Hamilton] and Fernando
[Alonso]. We've done it again with Max, who obviously beat Lewis in
2021, and then Lando Norris and George Russell last year. "So we've
never been sort of a home favourite, being an Austrian-owned team,
despite being very British-centric in being based in Milton Keynes
just up the road from Silverstone."
