Christian Horner does not want more F1 competition and is relishing domination - ‘Not one ounce of me’

ByJames Hilsum

Published 10/08/2023 at 09:11 GMT

The Red Bull team principal is enjoying every moment of Red Bull's domination this season after seeing his team win all 12 races so far this season. Max Verstappen has won 10 of those races, with team-mate Sergio Perez winning the other two. There are hopes that the sport can become more competitive again, but Horner is eager to keep Red Bull at the top for many years to come.

Christian Horner is relishing Red Bull’s dominance of Formula 1 this season and has no desire to see increased competition within the sport.

Red Bull have won all 12 races to date in 2023 and are currently on track to win every race this season.

Reigning champion Max Verstappen has won all but two of the races in this campaign, with team-mate Sergio Perez winning in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, respectively.

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It has led to a desire for more teams to close the gap on an increasingly dominant Red Bull side, but this is not the wish of team principal, Horner.

He is relishing his team’s success after spending so long trying to topple Mercedes, and explained all the work undertaken to propel Red Bull back to the top of F1.

After seeing Verstappen claim his eighth consecutive win at the Belgian Grand Prix, he told Motorsport.com: "There's not one ounce of me that wishes that [the sport is more competitive]. I think I'm still in recovery from 2021.

"And look, results like [Spa] are the combination of teamwork and that's why you guys have seen Greg [Reeson], our garage technician that looks after all the tyres in the garage, to go and get the constructors' trophy today.

"Because it's about every member of the team, every department in the factory doing their job, you don't achieve these kinds of results by accident.

"I think that it's a golden moment for our team. Hats off to everybody behind the scenes, everybody that's working as hard as they are to achieve this kind of performance.

"It's phenomenal to go into the summer break unbeaten in both GPs and sprints. It's beyond everybody's wildest imagination to be in sitting in this position now."

Meanwhile, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believes it is now no longer inconceivable to believe that the team could make history and become the first F1 team to remain unbeaten all season.

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When asked if he thought this was possible, he said: "If you think logically, then no. But we never thought that we could win the first 12 races either, so now I have to say: 'why not'?

"I didn't expect [Red Bull's dominance] at all. We've just developed our own car and we were honestly surprised that the others didn't do a good job because both Mercedes and Ferrari didn't make a step forward. That is why we are so far ahead now.

"The opposition behind us keeps changing. One time it's Ferrari, one time it's McLaren and then it's Aston Martin or Mercedes who is behind us."

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