HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX VIEW

Red Bull Racing has reached the mid-point of the season in fine form, with consecutive onetwo
finishes in the British and German Grands Prix. Red Bull Racing Team Principal, Christian
Horner and Red Bull Technology Chief Technical Officer, Adrian Newey explain the
groundwork that went into producing these results. The team currently lies second in both the
Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships.
Christian Horner, Team Principal
As we go into the second half of the season are the pressures you now have to deal
with different to those of last year, or even at the start of this season?
The rewards on track are different, but the pressures are the same. We are working as hard
as possible to get as much performance as possible, as quickly as we can. Everyone at the
factory has a spring in their step at the moment, even if the pace of development required to
meet this year’s major regulation change has been relentless. There are a lot of unsung heroes
at the factory, putting in superhuman efforts and hours to get the components on the car.
How has the operation at Milton Keynes changed, to produce the performances we have
seen so far this season?
There were already signs of a change last year, when RB4 delivered reasonable
performance in the first half of the season, while in the second half Red Bull Technology had good
results with Toro Rosso, in what was essentially an identical car. The design group has really
gelled and is working cohesively and the integration across the whole group, R&D and the
production side, is working very well. This is down to stability and continuity in what is still a
relatively young team.
The race team at the track seems to be working well too and it features lots of new faces.
What effect has that had on performance?
The faces new to the race team are not new to the company, as they were all on the test
team last year. It’s a testimony to how strong the test team was that, when we conducted the
difficult exercise over the winter when as all the other teams we had to make redundancies, we
went through a scrupulously fair system to identify the best candidates for the roles we had
available. The group of guys in the garage are brilliant. The camaraderie between the two car
crews and the way they work for each other is fantastic; the team spirit is very strong this year.
Does the team have any weak points?
You can always do better. Putting aside our performance and two dominant one-two finishes
in the last two races, the team’s determination to continue to improve and not to take anything for
granted is very important. There are no obvious weaknesses in our armoury, but as a group we
must continue to push ourselves in all areas all the time.
Going back a few races, what do you remember about standing on an F1 podium for the
first time after the win in China?
It was a very proud moment representing Red Bull at the team’s first win, having been here
since the beginning. Looking down and seeing the faces of all the guys looking up at the podium
and standing next to the two drivers who’d driven brilliantly is a moment I will certainly always
remember. It was a great feeling, especially at the end of such a long race of almost two hours,
held in atrocious conditions.