“I went with Adrian [Newey]”– Christian Horner recalls time he went on McLaren’s factory tour amidst his Mercedes factory visit win which he can’t redeem

Christian Horner talks about the time when he went to the McLaren factory and how he was treated amidst his Mercedes trip cancellation.

Apparently, Christian Horner paid around £4,000 at the Autosport Awards for a tour of the Mercedes factory. However, he will not be allowed inside, despite winning the contest.

As the terms and conditions of the tour prohibited the participation of  “employees of other Formula 1 teams are not eligible to take this tour”.

Though for banter, Mercedes may make an exception and invite Horner to Brackley, only restricting him from the crucial areas. The world champions so far haven’t made a call on it yet.

We haven’t discussed it yet,” a Mercedes spokesperson told The Sun. “To do so, we’d have to waive the terms and conditions under which it was offered – always pays to read the small print!”

On the other hand, Horner already has plans about who he will take to Brackley. “Adrian [Newey, Chief Technical Officer], myself, Pierre Waché [Technical Director] and probably Paul Field, our Director of Production,” he smiled when asked about who he would take with him.

Also read: Toto Wolff says his wife maintained truce between him and Christian Horner

It would be the second outing for Christian Horner

Mercedes wouldn’t be the only team in F1, where Horner would be going as a guest. In 2008, David Coulthard, who has driven for McLaren and Red Bull, organized a visit for Horner at McLaren’s factory.

He talks about his experience, and Adrian Newey wanted to visit every place that was restricted for them. In short, it was a brief tour and had hardly anything for him to see.

“I went with Adrian; he obviously knew his way around, and everywhere he wanted to go, we weren’t allowed!” Horner laughed. “I think we saw the marketing and electronics departments and had a very nice lunch, and that was about it!”

Also read: Toto Wolff claims he is not proud of having war of words with Red Bull boss Christian Horner during 2021 season

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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