Horner details how he signed Adrian Newey for Red Bull

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Adrian Newey is one of the key pieces not only to Red Bull’s huge success in his 18 years as an independent team in F1, but has become one of the most recognizable figures in modern Formula 1, joining other great engineers and designers who have made a huge mark in the category.

Proof of this success is that in addition to his real designs and facts, his mere presence redirected Red Bull’s trajectory from its early years, Christian Horner now remembers, around what was the most effective signature in its history.

catching the Chane

And for the ambitious Red Bull project team leader, it was essential that he have a head organized as soon as possible so that he represents the roadmap in the development of the single-seater: “For me, what was really needed was technical guidance and I thought: “I’m going to find the best in this field”, and that was Adrian Newey‘,” Christian Horner comments, on his determination to bring in Niue.

In this way, the director waited for his opportunity, taking advantage of the hole that McLaren suffered in those days: “Adrian had a great career at Williams, McLaren and There were a few years when McLaren wasn’t at its best and you could see the business change. I felt like there was an opportunity‘, recalls the calculated Christian Horner who put his tricks into play to impress the engineer:

“I made sure to meet Adrian and established a relationship with him and his wife and managed to convince him to come and join the team“,” details of the main team, which finally achieved its goal, and the integration of Newey into the team for the 2006 season.

Additionally, as Horner details, Newey’s appointment was essential to the philosophy and management of the entire Red Bull team to embark on a different, more determined and winning path:That was a turning point because Then all of a sudden people woke up and thought “Wow! If Adrian Newey is ready to come here, he should see something he believes in, and we go from there.‘, establishes the British director.

On the other hand, Christian wanted to highlight not only the creativity of his colleague, with whom he has shared an office for nearly two decades, but also his personality when it comes to teamwork:Then that pushed the art group because Adrian is the most determined engineer I’ve ever met: if Adrian says that’s the direction we’re technically going, that’s the way we’re going‘,” notes Horner, emphasizing the complete confidence they place in their technical champion.

Chip change in Jaguar employees

At the same time, Horner wanted to re-evaluate the importance of the environments and relationships that are created within the F1 team, as an essential tool for success. As an example of his experience when Jaguar went to Red Bull: “There was a blame culture within the team where the drawing desk blamed aerodynamics, aerodynamics blamed the wind tunnel, the race team blamed production, and the race team blamed everyone else.Christian, who as new manager had to discover and correct these failures in the chain of responsibilities:

“There was no collective accountability or responsibility, so the question was “How do we separate that and create the glue to hold it together?”Horner adds, noting the need to improve the cohesion of his employees.

“The fundamental foundation of the team hasn’t really changed from what it was under Jaguar’s management, we’ve put clear leadership into a structure and started to inculcate a culture.Christian Horner delivers at the end, underlining the importance of position and leadership within the F1 team.