CHRISTIAN HORNER is confident Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez won’t turn into a pair of raging Red Bulls as they battle for the F1 title.
Perez’s victory in the Monaco GP slashed Verstappen’s lead in the drivers’ championship and the two are now separate by just 15 points – with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc splitting the two teammates.
Perez has since been rewarded with a new contract and looks to be brimming in confidence in Baku after an impressive Friday practice.
Victory in Sunday’s Azerbaijan GP would certainly up the pressure on world champion Verstappen, who had the Mexican to thank for his sterling defensive work in last year’s Abu Dhabi GP to fend off Lewis Hamilton.
Fast forward six months and now it is Perez who poses the main threat to Verstappen’s crown, as Horner has to manage two drivers battling for the title.
The last time that happened it caused an explosive rift between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, which came to a head with the 2013 Malaysian GP and the famous “multi 21” flashpoint where the German ignored team orders not to overtake the Aussie.
But Horner does not fear any such repeat this time around, pointing out there is a bromance between his current pairing.
He said: “You can see there’s a great respect and there’s a friendship between the two and they work very well together as a pairing.
“They work as a team. You saw that in Barcelona and you saw that with Checo in Abu Dhabi last year, he was outstanding, so I think the dynamic in a team is as good as it has ever been.
“Back then you had two drivers who clearly didn’t like each other and now there is a genuine respect that exists between the two.
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“We’ve got two drivers. They’re both getting the same opportunity but it’s still very early in the year.
“We’ve only had a sample of what seven races so far and still have a lot of racing to do with a couple of sprint races in there too.
“And we are up against a very competitive Ferrari team, so our number one priority is making sure both our cars are ahead of the Ferraris and we will then see where we are later in the year if it’s still very close between the drivers.”
It has been 17 and a half years since Horner, then 31, was offered the chance to run the Red Bull team.
The team’s rise and ability to maintain its position as one of the sport’s leading teams, alongside automotive giants such as Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Renault, is hugely impressive.
While every other team has changed their team principal, Horner’s hand has remained on the tiller since 2005, and perhaps he does not get the respect he deserves.
GRABBING BULL BY HORNS
His recent presentation on Netflix’s Drive to Survive has him cast as a villain in some scenes and the hero in the next.
He refers to the hit series as a “TV show” but the reality is he’s playing his role within Red Bull’s success.
He added: “On day one at Red Bull, I had a dream. The dream was to be winning and to challenge at the highest level.
“When I came into the sport, Ron Dennis was running McLaren and there was Flavio Briatore at Renault, there was Frank Williams, there was John Todt, all these big characters, but I always had a goal.
“Most of them probably thought ‘who is this?’ because they were all about the same age as my father when I first walked into the room.
“But I looked at and listened for the first six months and I think you’d never demand respect, you always earn it.
“I’ve always believed in judging people by what they do rather than what they say and we went on to do some decent things.
“The last 17 and a half years have gone in a click of the fingers. And I still think I’m the youngest team principal in Formula One yet the longest serving.
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“But my motivation is unchanged, if anything, just become even greater.
“There’s been different chapters that we’ve been through and, and there’s some exciting chapters still to come.”
