Christian Horner is as shrewd as they come. The Red Bull boss—one of the most successful in the sport’s history—has shown time and again that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to gain an advantage and win. But perhaps a more underrated trait is his ability to handle pressure and face the heat when it matters most.
Red Bull currently appears to be in crisis. After losing out to McLaren in 2024, they came into this season determined to reclaim the Constructors’ title—but five races in, it’s clear that the balance issues that affected them last year remain unresolved.
As team principal, the responsibility naturally falls on Horner. But the Briton has been ready with explanations, or rather excuses, as to why his team couldn’t develop the right mechanical package.
Horner explained that Red Bull’s wind tunnel is a ‘relic from the Cold War era’—a point former F1 driver Karun Chandhok picked up on to highlight why he believes the 51-year-old is an expert when it comes to navigating the sport’s politics.
Chandhok bluntly stated that Horner was using deflective tactics to shift attention away from Red Bull’s struggles this season, rather than accepting responsibility.
“Every time I listen to the Christian Horner’s our wind tunnel is a relic of the Cold War thing, I mean he’s just PR spin, isn’t it? It’s like this is the latest bit of this is how I’m, he’s such a master politician,” Chandhok explained on Sky Sports’ The F1 show podcast.
He is confident that Horner is simply making excuses, because if that were the case, Red Bull’s sister team, Racing Bulls, would be facing similar issues—since both teams use the same wind tunnel. However, the Faenza-based outfit has not expressed any such concerns.
Chandhok also pointed out that if Red Bull’s wind tunnel were faulty, they wouldn’t have dominated in 2022 and 2023, where they collectively won more than half of the races. Max Verstappen set a record for most wins in a single season with 15 victories in 2022, only to break it himself a year later with a staggering 19 wins from 22 races.
And Chandhok didn’t just call Horner out for the excuses made to justify Red Bull’s current struggles. The Sky Sports expert also highlighted how Horner cleverly tried to convince the stewards that Verstappen was not at fault during the recently concluded Saudi Arabian GP, where he received a five-second penalty.
A five-second penalty for the current race leader, Max Verstappen for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at the start #F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/0ow0EBommp
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 20, 2025
The Indian claimed that Horner had selectively presented images, possibly showing Verstappen ahead of Oscar Piastri at the apex of Turn 1, when it was clear that he wasn’t. Fellow expert Bernie Collins added that Horner’s images were simply “bad,” as it was obvious that Verstappen would never have made the corner.
That said, Chandhok did credit Horner for his ability to spin a narrative. The 41-year-old expert believes that Horner excels at manipulating the facts, making people believe something they otherwise would not.
