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Christian Horner reflected upon the glorious days of Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull at the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP weekend, as the German announced his retirement. Horner, who worked with the four-time world champion, felt it was the right time for the latter to retire.
Reminiscing about the time spent with Sebastian Vettel, Horner spoke at the team principals' conference in Hungary, saying:
“He was a pleasure for us to have in our team. We achieved some great things together. And I think having just watched him grow from a boy into a young man, and I think he’s a very principled guy. He has very strong beliefs. We’ve seen that in the latter stages of his career, as he’s very much standing up for things that he feels passionate about, and rightly so. His family is important to him. He’s a very private man. So pleased to see he’s become an Instagramer recently.”
“And whilst his Formula 1 career comes to an end, he’s got a lot that I’m sure he wants to do in his life. And I’m sure he’s going to go on and do some great things. But it’ll be sad not to see him around. I think the timing is right for him. It’s not nice to see him running around in the middle of the field, he doesn’t deserve to be there. And I think the time is right for him to say, ‘now’s the time for me to call time on Formula 1’.”
Horner revered the German champion’s journey in the sport and with the team. The Briton believes it was painful to watch him struggle in midfield and it might be the right time for him to hang his boots. Although he was sad to see Sebastian Vettel retire, the Red Bull CEO was, however, delighted to witness his debut on Instagram. Proud of the individual and personality he molded into during his tenure in the sport, the Briton revealed a lot of anecdotes about his days as a Red Bull driver.
Recollecting early memories of Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull, Horner said:
“Sebastian, in his time with us, was incredible. He came as a junior, he wrote a letter to Red Bull to see if they would support him, you know, locally, and, out of that came support from the local market, and then from the group, and then through the junior programmes, through Toro Rosso, and then into Red Bull Racing. I think the thing that stood out about Seb, was from the very beginning, you could see he was a very focused young man, and his work ethic was totally Germanic. He worked hard, he worked late, and he had a great sense of humour, so fitting into a British team, he embraced the culture immediately.”
Christian Horner believes Sebastian Vettel blended well with the team and valued his fans
The Red Bull team principal revealed the efforts Sebastian Vettel made to blend into the team, which included going to the extent of trying to master cockney slang. Horner stated that the records and statistics meant a lot to the German and so did the affection from his fans.
Narrating anecdotes from the journey with Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull, Horner said:
“He endeared himself across all areas of the business, whether he was turning up with chocolates for secretaries or learning the lingo in the garage – in a slightly different way to Yuki [Tsunoda] – but his commandment of cockney slang became legendary. His ability to just relate to people and get the best out of people. And he was formidable in the cars that we produced in that period of time. They were, again, halcyon days in Formula 1: massive competitors, big teams that we were up against, and some outstanding successes. He, at that stage, was very focused on achieving, not just success, but achieving and going for records. They meant a lot to him.”
Detailing a unique story, Horner described the Red Bull champion’s value for his fans saying:
“The fans as well, a huge amount, just seeing him collect every bit of memorabilia and every gift in Japan that he would then insist on taking home. And some of the objects were slightly weird, but he kept everything, he kept absolutely everything. He was a pleasure for us to have in our team. We achieved some great things together.”
Along with Sebastian Vettel’s journey to becoming the youngest world champion, Horner also held the record of becoming one of the youngest team principals at the age of 31. Their journey together was a unique one that won them four championships. The German’s connect with Helmut Marko and the Red Bull team principal remained even after he had quit the Milton Keynes camp.
