Horner conducts Red Bull's orchestra of success

GREATER NOIDA: A look at the Formula One paddock shows team principals running the show in their 40s, 50s and even in their 70s, like Peter Sauber. But one man stands apart. At merely 38 years of age, Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner has been leading F1's dominant unit for the last three years.
For Horner, running the most successful F1 team is like creating music. At the moment, he's the conductor of an orchestra playing a beautiful symphony on the track, led by the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.
"You need great people in place to play good music. Red Bull prides itself on the fact that we work as a team. Teamwork is a very vital aspect in F1, that will be really crucial in the last four races of this season," Horner told TOI during an exclusive chat.
Compared to 2010 and 2011, this season has been a lot of hard work for the team based in Milton Keynes in England.
The change in regulations which banned the use of ‘blown diffusers' at the start of the season have hit Red Bull hard.
"Regulation changes affected us more than others. We have had to work really hard to overcome that situation. There is still a long way to go in the season, with big races coming up. We have got ourselves in good positions in both championships but are taking nothing for granted. We are set for a real spectacle in the last four races," Horner, who became owner of an F3000 team aged just 25, said.
All the talk has been centred around his number one driver and two-time world champion Vettel picking the Prancing Horses over the Bulls for the 2014 season. Horner, though, is not concerned. "We are very happy with the lineup that we have and I think our drivers feel the same about the team. There is always a lot of speculation but Sebastian is very happy where he is at the moment," the Red Bull boss said.
There is a general feeling that success in Formula One comes around in cycles. With the Red Bulls enjoying tremendous success for the fourth year in a row, Horner is not a concerned man.
"This is the fourth year we have won six races in a season. There is still a lot of desire and motivation to achieve great things and big results. The stability and continuation that exists in the team will help us in doing that," said Horner, who incidentally has his own dedicated fan club called The Hornettes.
The one thing over which the Red Bulls stand apart in the F1 world is over the Resource Restriction Agreement that exists in the sport. In a meeting earlier this week in Paris, the matter cropped up again.
"Red Bull Racing supports the concept of resource restriction in Formula One. But we can't accept RRA in its current draft. I am sure there'll be more constructive discussions in time to come," he said.
Know Christian Horner
* Born in Leamington Spa, United Kingdom
* Started off as a racing driver, winning Formula Renault championship in 1991
* Became owner of F3000 team Arden aged just 25 in 1999
* Red Bull Racing brought him to F1, making him one of the youngest team principals in 2005
* Jumped into a swimming pool wearing nothing apart from a Superman cape after the team's first podium in 2006 Monaco GP.
* Has an unofficial fan club called ‘The Christian Horner Fan Club', collectively known as ‘The Hornettes'.