Q: Christian, have Mark’s eight points this season made for happy faces at Red Bull? The battle for points in the midfield group is extremely fierce at the moment. How do the team management feel?
Christian Horner: First of all, congratulations to Mark, you’ve done a fantastic job and scoring four points is a dream result. And happy faces? At Barcelona - yes. And well, if you look at the first three races they were quite untypical. For example, take Australia. Only six cars finished - unfortunately we were not one of those - but Williams with two cars took a large amount of points out of this event. At the next two races Mark was consistently in the points - and now here in Barcelona we came close to our expectations. The fact is we outraced Renault and Williams fair and square at the last three events. True Ferrari, McLaren and BMW are a bit up the road, but thereafter it’s incredibly tight and we are right in the middle of that fight.
Q: Webber said recently that the team is lacking something in terms of pace of development. Would you agree?
Christian Horner: We came to Barcelona with almost a new car so I don’t think that lack of development speed is an issue. Obviously, we are not at the level of the big manufacturer teams, but we try to be cleverer. With the strength of the people we have, we need to engineer our way forward, rather than buy our way forward.
Q: You’ve paid your dues. You’re now part of the Formula One establishment and no longer the ‘new kid on the block’. And you’ve managed to navigate around the rocky shores that are Formula One politics. How do you do that?
Christian Horner: I’m just focused on strengthening the team - politics I leave to others. And if I have to get involved, I try to play with a straight face. But as I said, my attention is on the team. We are still a young team that feels a bit like a rowing boat. At the moment not all strokes are completely in time but every month it’s getting better and the cooperation between Adrian (Newey) and Geoff (Willis) is very, very good.
Q: What do you think about the future of the sport? This season Formula One racing has new venues, a night event and is shifting further into evolving markets…
Christian Horner: I think it is fantastic that Bernie (Ecclestone) is pushing the boundaries in these areas. For Red Bull, going to Singapore and having a night race there is a fantastic event. We have been there already twice with a running show car. The reception from that market is massive. It is going to be a huge spectacle.
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