The Man Behind Red Bull Racing's Success! Christian Horner

It's a mental game. And when you see your counterpart smashing up headphones and glancing at cameras, you know that you've got to win. Christian Horner, the team boss of the world championship winning team, Red Bull Racing. Red Bull's contesting. Oh!

You came into Red Bull when it wasn't doing great.

When I came into the sport, I was the youngest team principal in Formula 1. I still am to this day, ironically. And I don't have any formal qualifications, bar a couple of A levels. I wanted to make sure that we were the team on the upward graft and think, "Okay, how can we turn shit into fertilizer?"

You can lose championships, as we've seen-

Yeah.

... in seconds.

Of all the controversy! Of all the controversy! It felt like it was slipping away. And then suddenly- Verstappen takes the lead in the race! ... it was insane.

But mostly -

If somebody came up with a script and said, "That's the way this season's gonna pan out," nobody would have believed it.

All that press scrutiny.

Formula 1 is a very glamorous world from the outside looking in. It can be a lonely place at, at, at, at times.

Have you ever had moments of anxiety?

Yeah. It sort of crept up on me without, you know, recognizing it.

Same.

And this is just your body telling you that there's a lot going on here. And, uh, for me, you know, I've had enough.

When you look at your competition, which has been Mercedes-

Yes.

... why do you think your team will win?

I think the-

Before this episode begins, I just wanna say a huge thank you to all of our new subscribers. 74% of you that watch this channel didn't subscribe before. And we're now down to about 71%. So, that helps us in a number of ways that are quite hard to explain. But simply, the bigger the channel gets, the bigger the guests get. So if you haven't yet subscribed to The Diary of a CEO, if I could have any favors from you, if you've ever watched this show and enjoyed it, it's just to, to please hit the subscribe button. Without further ado, I'm Steven Bartlett, and this is The Diary of a CEO. I hope nobody's listening, but if you are, then please keep this to yourself. Christian, there's a slight pun, I guess, to this opening question, but, um, as I look back into your early years, and as you look back in hindsight and sort of self-assess, what drives you?

What drives me? I've, I'm naturally a competitive person. And, uh, you know, it, I've always, uh, you know, enjoyed competition. I've always enjoyed working, you know, within a team of people. And, uh, and winning. You know, winning, there's just no, no feeling like it. And, uh, uh, you know, whether it's achieving a checkered flag first or sealing a deal to get on a car, um, you know, that's always what's, what's driven me. It's al- always been about the competition.