Christian Horner reveals he was quizzed by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip on the fiasco between his Red Bull drivers during his visit to Buckingham Palace.
The world mourns the loss of Queen Elizabeth II who passed away this week. Formula 1 drivers and teams are also carrying out tributes to the Queen.
Recently in an interview with Sky Sports, Red Bull boss Christian Horner reflected on the time he met the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
Back in 2013, Horner was invited to a lunch with the Queen and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace.
At the time, both his Red Bull drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were engaged in an intense feud. Which broke out during the Malaysian Grand Prix that year. When the German disobeyed team orders from Red Bull to hold position behind his team-mate.
With 13 laps remaining, Red Bull was running 1-2 with Webber leading and Vettel right behind him. When the drivers received the coded message “multi-21” to hold station.
However, the then three-time World Champion ignored the team’s orders. He went on to battle Webber for the lead and eventually won the race.
Setting up one of the most awkward podium ceremonies in F1 history as the two drivers hardly acknowledged each other. “Multi-21, Seb, yeah, Multi-21,” Webber had said to his teammate in the cooldown room.
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Horner getting quizzed by the Queen on the ‘Multi-21’ scenario
It was well known that the Queen was a fan of Formula 1. Having been attended the first ever British Grand Prix too.
Christian Horner recounted that by saying that the Queen, who was at the time in her late 80s had questioned Horner about the tensions between his drivers.
The Red Bull team principal revealed in the interview how he had to explain the ‘Multi-21’ scenario to Her Highness.
“She loved her horses obviously, that was a real passion of hers. But I remember being invited to a lunch at Buckingham Palace by herself and Prince Philip,” He told Sky Sports F1 after the second practice session at the Italian Grand Prix.
“There were very few of us there and she’d obviously been well briefed. We sat down for lunch and she said ‘what going on with your drivers? Why don’t they get on?”
Horner concluded his marks on the Queen by paying tribute to her after her sad demise.
“She was just the most remarkable person, who immediately put you at ease. She had a sense of humor as well. She’ll be sorely, sorely missed,” he continued.
“It’s so sad because she’s been the stability for such a long time. It’s almost unimaginable her not being there. She’s on every coin, every pound note. It’s a real shame.”
The Red Bull Team Principal even posted a heartfelt tribute on his Instagram prior to the Italian Grand Prix.
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