S1E2: Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner on how to set up a team to win

Christian Horner (0:03)

Hi, I'm Christian Horner and welcome to the Red Bull Basement Sessions.

Tommo Carroll (0:09)

That's Christian Horner, team principal of Formula One Team, Red Bull Racing. And these are the Red Bull Basement Sessions, where global innovators, entrepreneurs and athletes open up to share their mindset, their motivations and what it takes to make a difference.

I'm Tom Carroll, and Red Bull Basement is here to support students to constructively challenge the status quo and make a positive impact now and for the future.

At the helm of Red Bull Racing for 16 years, Christian Horner has overseen one of Formula One's most remarkable success stories. By building a unique team which works collaboratively from the drivers all the way to the coffee guy to achieve results. You might remember Sebastian Vettel winning four World Drivers Championship titles. Well, between 2010 and 2013, Red Bull Racing dominated F1, and they have consistently finished in the top three teams over the past 10 years. Starting out with the team from the get-go in 2005, Christian is still one of the youngest team principals in the sport.

Christian Horner (1:07)

Formula One is the biggest team sport in the world, focused on designing, manufacturing and operating, two cars, which is nuts. That's why our mechanics have broken the world records.

Ideas that can have a huge influence over the outcome of a race, whatever it is, it's worth pursuing. And particularly in our world, it's all about those incremental tiny gains.

Tommo Carroll (1:48)

Under Christian's stewardship and out of nowhere, Red Bull Racing have disrupted the sport and the bigger teams, emerging in the top three constructors. The team like to do things a little bit differently, with an inclusive environment.

Christian Horner (2:00)

One that stimulates creativity, and we're very different to other teams. It's a far less corporate environment. You see a lot more jeans and t-shirts here. That is so crucial, and I think that people play such an important role, and there's no I in team. It's about everybody working collectively.

Tommo Carroll (2:20)

Just like many in the sport, Christian's love for racing began around 11 years old, finding a passion for the thrill of racing go-karts around the track.

Christian Horner (2:28)

I progressed through the different formulas, or karting formulas, and then I won a scholarship from Renault, and at this point, in the early 90s, my aspirations were very much on being a Formula One driver myself, and I was a test driver for Lotus in Formula One, and raced in Formula Three, and then what is now Formula Two, but the higher I got, the more limited my talent became apparent. So I was okay, but there was lots of drivers that were okay, and very few that were outstanding. And so I made the decision that I wanted to switch from racing, but to stay in the sports. And so I started my own team, and raced for my own team in its first year.

And that taught me so much about creating a small business, and operating that team, and then I ran the team as the team principal, won the championship for three years in a row, and then Red Bull approached me to get involved with their newly acquired Formula One team.

Tommo Carroll (3:25)

By assembling some of the best talent and fostering a team spirit, Christian has since helped Red Bull blossom into a championship-winning team that has consistently won the Drivers and Constructors titles, the ultimate prize in the sport. This is the biggest team sport in the world.

Christian Horner (3:40)

I love working within that team environment.

I think Formula One is the epitome of teamwork, so we're used as a lot of case studies for how our decision-making process within a crisis is used, what our chain of command is, how we operate. And just recently, obviously, with the ventilators, you know, that were required in the UK with the COVID crisis, Formula One collectively put its brain power into coming up with solutions that would have otherwise taken three years to be achieved in about a month.

Tommo Carroll (4:06)

Entering a sport dominated by established teams with long histories in motor manufacturing, success was never going to be an easy thing. But it's this fresh and unique approach that has driven Red Bull to new heights.

Christian Horner (4:18)

We're just so different. I mean, Red Bull as a brand is so different to an automotive manufacturer. We're sort of non-conformist. We're the mavericks of the kind of, we play our music loud in the garage. People look like they're actually enjoying themselves.

That's so, so important, I think, and embodies the team spirit that we have. That's why All Mechanics have broken the world record five times in pit stops in the last six months. Red Bull is just so different in positions. I think it's more inclusive, it's more relaxed, it's not less serious.