Christian Horner believes the current crop of F1 team principals sometimes “lack respect” compared to team bosses of the past.
Red Bull F1 boss Horner is the longest-serving team principal on the grid, having been at the team since its formation in 2005.
Horner entered the sport at the age of 31 with giants of the sport, such as McLaren’s Ron Dennis, Ferrari’s Jean Todt and Williams’s Frank Williams, in their roles as team bosses.
As he enters his third decade in F1, with eight drivers’ world championships to Red Bull’s name, Horner has spoken out about how the current generation of team principals - such as Toto Wolff, Fred Vasseur and McLaren CEO Zak Brown - compare to the bosses 20 years ago.
“There were always disagreements, but there was a commonality of agreeing on what was right for the business, and what was right for the sport, because they were all relatively entrepreneurial,” Horner told Planet F1.
“Whereas, nowadays, you look around the room and, save for a few, it’s largely a bunch of managers, as opposed to perhaps that entrepreneurial spirit that existed previously.
“There were always rivalries. I mean, Jean and Ron never particularly saw eye-to-eye, but there was always respect that, sometimes, I think is a little lacking these days.”
Horner, who dismissed rumours linking him with Ferrari last week, also responded to claims he is something of a pantomime villain character in the paddock.
“Inevitably, you’re not going to be able to please everybody,” he said. “Things get played out in the media and so on. But I’ve always been the same person.
“I’ve always operated the way I operate. I expect 100% and I’ll give 100%. But sometimes that makes you unpopular with your rivals.
“The best way to become unpopular in this business is to win and we’ve done a fair amount of that over the last few years.”
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has won the last four drivers’ titles but currently trails championship leader Oscar Piastri by 43 points after 10 races.
The next race of the 2025 season is Red Bull’s home race, the Austrian Grand Prix, this weekend.
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