Christian Horner wins Mercedes factory tour in charity auction

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has won a Mercedes factory tour after he outbid the competition at a charity auction during the Autosport Awards. The Briton paid a whopping £4000 for the tour, the entirety of which will be donated to the Grand Prix trust, a non-profit that supports F1 trackside personnel.

Speaking in an interview with RN365 after the awards, Horner said:

“I want to take about 20 people [to the tour]. Adrian [Newey, Chief Technical Officer], myself, Pierre Waché [Technical Director] and probably Paul Field, our Director of Production. It’ll be interesting to go and see how they’re spending their budget cap.”

While Horner may get an official tour of Brackley, he can’t expect to learn much about his rivals while there. Speaking of the tours, Horner also revealed that this wasn’t the first time that he got to visit a rival’s factory. Back in 2008, Horner was reportedly invited to the McLaren HQ along with David Coulthard and Adrian Newey. The trio, however, were reportedly not allowed to see anything interesting.

Recollecting the trip, the Red Bull F1 boss said:

“I went with Adrian; he obviously knew his way around and everywhere he wanted to go we weren’t allowed! I think we saw the marketing and electronics departments, and had a very nice lunch, and that was about it!”

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Mercedes and Red Bull “most at risk” in 2022

Christian Horner believes Red Bull and Mercedes have the most to lose if the current order is shaken in 2022, following sweeping technical regulation changes. The Briton says he expects stiffer competition from teams such as Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin, at the very least.

Speaking in a post-season interview with WION, the Red Bull team principal said:

“I think you could see teams like Ferrari, McLaren, maybe even one or two surprises, because it’s a complete reset of the regulations and ourselves and Mercedes were very much involved in last year’s championship fight. So inevitably, that takes a little bit of distraction and emphasis away from the following year. We expect to have some very fierce competition out there this year and I think it will be an exciting championship ahead.”

Red Bull and Mercedes have dominated the sport since the start of the last decade, having won every world championship since 2010 between themselves. The latter, in particular, has dominated for the entirety of the turbo-hybrid era to notch up an unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' world championships.