Christian Horner revealed how he managed to put Toto Wolff under pressure that made Red Bull a winner in 2021.
Mercedes and Red BullRacing f1 teams have always been at each other’s throats, but the battle became intense during the 2021 season when Max and Lewis had a nail-biting title fight.
It was a season where everyone on both teams was attacking, accusing, and manipulating each other. But, of all these conflicts, Toto Wolff and Christian Horner took things further that in the end led to a controversial title ending resulting in Max Verstappen winning the 2021 world title.
Pointing the Toto Wolff’s outburst during the end part of the 2021 season, Briton in an interview with The Diary of a CEO revealed how expressing aggressive emotions can get things out of hand during exciting racing battles. He highlights the moment when Toto Wolff smashed his headphones during the Saudi Arabian GP when Max Verstappen collided with Lewis Hamilton.
He said, “You see people’s true personalities and what they’ve really got when they’re under pressure. When you see your counterpart smashing up headphones and pointing and ranting, you know you’ve got to them.”
Red Bull’s principal mentioned showing these emotions means that people on the other side (Mercedes) are under high pressure.
“If they’re venting in such a way, and they’re feeling that pressure, then the people beneath them are going to be offloaded onto, they are going to be on the receiving end of that. That, in my opinion and experience, causes people to tighten up”, said Horner.
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Horner: “Aggression is not a healthy way to lead a team”
Christian Horner is famous for his calm personality and sensibly character which has helped Red Bull win numerous F1 titles.
Being hit with numerous accusations and controversies from competitors, the Englishmen defends his team’s position gracefully and is not shy of showing aggression towards competitors.
When asked about how he manages high-pressure situations and leads his team, he said, “In the end, it paid off. As a leader, how you conduct yourself permeates throughout a business. If you’re feeling the tension and passing that on, then for me that’s not a healthy way to lead a team by fear”.
Christian Horner is a competitive person
Being in Formula One for more than 25 years, Christian Horner admits to being a competitive person when it comes to driving his motivation. Horner mentioned that he enjoys the competition that has helped Red Bull work as a team.
“I am naturally a competitive person, and you know, I’ve always enjoyed the competition and enjoy working with a team”- he said.
Since joining Red Bull in 2005, Christian Horner has led the team to win 4 constructor championships in Formula One and Currently, the team is on track to win its fifth constructor in the 2022 season.
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