Sep.27 (GMM) Christian Horner is making sure his name remains firmly in the Formula 1 headlines ahead of the release of his new autobiography, Drive, on October 22.
The former Red Bull boss has already used extracts from the book to revisit some of the most difficult relationships from his two decades at the team.
Adrian Newey features prominently.
“I had his back and believed that he had mine,” Horner reportedly wrote.
“But at the first sign of adversity, Adrian wanted to abandon ship.”
Horner said Newey’s willingness to consider leaving when Ferrari came calling in 2014 changed how he viewed their relationship.
“I felt very sad about that,” wrote the 52-year-old.
“I couldn’t rely on him any more. Our partnership was not as solid as I’d previously believed.”
Dr Helmut Marko also comes in for particularly sharp criticism. Horner recalled that Marko had stayed at his home shortly before his eventual Red Bull dismissal.
“A few days earlier he’d stayed at my house and spent time with my family, yet not a word had been said,” Horner said.
He nevertheless acknowledges that Marko was crucial to his original Red Bull opportunity, but says their dynamic changed significantly after Dietrich Mateschitz died.
“Towards the end, and certainly after Dietrich died, he didn’t really have a function,” said the Briton.
“I think he always viewed me as the protege.”
He also paints a stark picture of Marko’s management of Red Bull’s young drivers. “It wasn’t how I would deal with things,” said Horner.
“I felt that I was always mopping up the s*it.”
Even Max Verstappen’s arrival was apparently not straightforward.
Horner says Marko initially resisted signing the young Dutchman because of concerns about his father Jos. “We don’t need this one,” he said, repeating Marko’s supposed advise about signing the then teenaged Verstappen.
Horner is also unusually candid about his own polarising reputation.
“Maybe I am a bit of a Marmite character,” he wrote.
“I know I’m not everybody’s cup of tea. It’s impossible to be.”
And on his eventual Red Bull dismissal, Horner says the explanation was never entirely clear.
“I was never given a clear explanation other than that they felt the team’s performance had slipped a little.”
When he pressed further, he says he was told: “It was more Christian Horner Racing than Red Bull Racing.”
His verdict on Red Bull since his departure is equally blunt, saying the team he led since 2005 had “lost its mojo, its presence, its vibe”.
And despite the controversies surrounding his career, he offered perhaps the most revealing assessment of how he sees himself.
“In the end, Darth Vader takes off his helmet and he’s a human being. And everybody loves him,” said Horner.