Christian Horner

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Christian Horner
200px
Christian Horner OBE, Team Principal, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, on-stage at the British Embassy in Tokyo, Japan
Born (1973-11-16) 16 November 1973 (age 50)
Leamington Spa, United Kingdom
Nationality British
Occupation Team Principal of Red Bull Racing (2005–present)
Spouse(s) Geri Halliwell (m. 2015)
Children 1

Christian Edward Johnston Horner OBE (born in Leamington Spa, England on November 16, 1973)[1] is the Team Principal of the Infiniti Red Bull Racing Formula One team, a position he has held since 2005.[2] His motorsport career started as a race car driver, before he switched roles to become Team Principal of FIA F3000 and later GP2 Series team Arden International Motorsport in 1999.

Driving career

File:Christian Horner 1995 British F3 Silverstone.jpg
Horner driving for Alan Docking Racing at Silverstone during the 1995 British Formula Three Championship season

Horner's career in motorsport started after he won the Formula Renault scholarship in 1991. He competed in the 1992 British Formula Renault Championship with Manor Motorsport, finishing that season as a race winner and the highest placed rookie. He then moved up to British Formula Three, finishing second in the Class B Championship winning 8 races before moving to the Fortec and ADR team in 1995, and then to the TOM'S team in 1996. In 1996 he also raced in British Formula Two.

Horner moved up to Formula 3000 in 1997, founding the Arden team.[1] He stayed in F3000 for 1998 and was joined at Arden by Kurt Mollekens. He retired from driving at the end of the season to focus on developing the Arden team.

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
1997 Arden International SIL
16		 PAU
DNQ		 HEL
DNQ		 NÜR
DNQ		 PER
DNQ		 HOC
DNQ		 A1R
16		 SPA
DNQ		 MUG
17		 JER
6		 21st 1
1998 Arden Racing/KTR OSC
Ret		 IMO
12		 CAT
Ret		 SIL
Ret		 MON
16		 PAU
DNQ		 A1R
17		 HOC
18		 HUN
Ret		 SPA
DNQ		 PER
17		 NÜR
17		 33rd 0

Team management

After retiring from competitive driving at the age of 25, Horner signed Viktor Maslov and Marc Goossens for the 1999 FIA F3000 season. Darren Manning was signed to replace Goossens for 2000/2001 season, scoring 1 pole and 2 podium finishes.

Arden also competed in Euro F3000 in 2000 winning three races and finishing second in the Championship.

A new driver line-up was recruited for 2002, with Tomáš Enge and Björn Wirdheim who were brought in to replace Manning and Maslov. Enge won the title that year, but was demoted to third after a failed drug test, handing the title to Sébastien Bourdais. Arden won the Team Championship.

Wirdheim stayed in 2003, with Enge replaced by Townsend Bell. Björn Wirdheim won the title by a 35-point margin to second-placed Ricardo Sperafico. Arden retained the Team Championship.

The final season of F3000, 2004, was dominated by Arden's lead driver Vitantonio Liuzzi; the support of Robert Doornbos helped to secure both the Drivers and Constructors Championship titles by a large margin. At this time Horner based his Arden International Team at Prodrive premises in Banbury, before relocating them to the former 22 Motorsport facility close by.

In November 2004 the Austrian energy drink company, Red Bull, purchased Jaguar F1 Team, which became Red Bull Racing. In 2005, Horner was recruited as the youngest Team Principal at the time.[3] In 2006, he jumped into a swimming pool wearing nothing but a Superman cape to celebrate the team's first podium finish at the Monaco Grand Prix.

The team finished a strong second in the 2009 Constructors' Championship with drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber finishing second and fourth respectively in the drivers' title race. In 2010, the team won their first Constructors' Championship with one race to spare, and Sebastian Vettel won the Drivers' Championship at the final race of the season, becoming the youngest World Champion.[4] At 36, Horner was the youngest Team Principal to win a Formula 1 Constructors Championship. In 2011, the team won their second Constructors' Championship with three races to spare, with Sebastian Vettel becoming the world's youngest double-champion. In 2012 the team won their third Constructors' Championship with one race to spare. Sebastian Vettel became the world's youngest triple World Champion. In 2013 Red Bull Racing won its fourth consecutive F1 Constructors' Championship as Sebastian Vettel won his fourth Drivers' Championship.

Horner was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to motorsport.[5]

According to Red Bull's accounts report, Horner received a £2.6m salary in 2014.[6]

Personal life

Horner was privately educated at Arnold Lodge School in Leamington[7] and then Warwick School.[8] He has two brothers, Jamie and Guy.[9] He and his former partner Beverley Allen have a daughter named Olivia.[10] He began dating former Spice Girls member Geri Halliwell in March 2014,[10] and their engagement was announced on 11 November 2014.[11] They married on 15 May 2015 in Woburn, Bedfordshire.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60534. p. 11. 15 June 2013.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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