Christian Horner has given his take on why his and Max Verstappen-led Red Bull F1 team is 'unpopular' among fans. Horner believes that the dislike of the fans toward the team somewhat stems from the outfit's recent success in F1.
The Milton Keynes-based Red Bull outfit has dominated the ongoing ground-effect era (from 2022 onwards) of the sport. Max Verstappen has won four back-to-back F1 championships since 2021, and the Austrian outfit has also lifted the Constructors' title a couple of times (2022 and 2023).
In line with all the success that Red Bull has amassed in recent years, Horner said the following via an interaction with Planet F1:
"Inevitably, you’re not going to be able to please everybody. 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." Horner said.
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The 2022 Formula 1 season was one of the most dominant ones for Red Bull in the history of the sport. Max Verstappen amassed an impressive 15 Grand Prix wins in the 22-race campaign, and then-driver Sergio Perez also chipped in with two, to take the outfit's wins tally to 17.
Is Max Verstappen an 'aggressive version' of George Russell?
Max Verstappen has been competing in the pinnacle of motor racing since 2015. He has always maintained his reputation as an aggressive driver, and in line with this, the former F1 driver, Juan Pablo Montoya, has compared him to Mercedes' George Russell.
Just like the four-time world champion, George Russell is also known for being a fighter on the racetrack. Juan Pablo Montoya, via GPBlog, said:
"Max is doing an amazing job. He's an aggressive version of George. George is a quieter guy. He's a guy that doesn't take as many risks, but speed-wise, you’ve got to say what George did in Canada with that Mercedes was amazing."
The ongoing 2025 Formula 1 season is turning out to be extremely cut-throat. After the initial dominance of the McLaren drivers, Max Verstappen and George Russell have also scored victories.
If Red Bull and Mercedes are able to give their star drivers an ever-improving challenger, then Verstappen and Russell could very well be seen strongly taking the fight to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the drivers' championship.
As things stand, Verstappen is in third place in the standings with 155 points, whereas Russell is sitting on 136 (P4). Norris (P2) and Piastri (P1) are one 176 and 198 points.
