Taskmaster Helmut Marko Recalls Buying Christian Horner’s Loyalty With “Millions” As Rivals Tried To Poach Him

Jaguar’s ashes gave birth to Red Bull in 2005, and ever since, a stubborn man, Christian Horner was waiting anxiously for a chance to prove to the world just what Red Bull can become under his aggressive leadership. That time arrived and now his cabinet of titles speak for the worth of the Man. However, did you know that Horner’s loyalty was shaken despite being the head of one of the most successful teams and having apparently been bought for “millions” according to Red Bull Taskmaster Helmut Marko?

After winning two consecutive driver’s championships and a constructor’s championship last year, Red Bull is currently on a roll. Their current record stands at six driver’s championships and five constructor’s titles. Christian Horner oversaw all of these. However, any team would want to pay a premium price for a man of Horner’s caliber in order to sign him to their roster. At the Canadian Grand Prix in June of the previous year, this is precisely what occurred with Horner.

At that point, the team’s position began to deteriorate under Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto as Max Verstappen gained the lead that had been held by Charles Leclerc at the start of the season, overtaking him by a margin of 30 points. Therefore, the Maranello-based team sought to recruit Christian Horner to their cause.

Red Bull Taskmaster admitted during a conversation with Blick that it took him quite some time to win Christian Horner over and gain his loyalty. He said, “It took me a whole night to convince Horner to stay at Red Bull, and we had to pay millions to do it.”

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It wasn’t just Horner that the Ferrari attempted to snare. Since it has been 15 years since they last won a trophy, the Maranello-based team has always sought to look to the “enemy’s” house for the required talent to end their championship drought.

Ferrari made an attempt to swoop in Christian Horner’s wingman

Currently, Red Bull is miles ahead of every other team on the grid. The person responsible for the Austrian team’s pace has been Adrian Newey, who, according to many, is one of the best F1 architects. For more than a dozen championship-winning teams, the British engineer has served as their architect.

After Red Bull’s tremendous success the previous year, his name became well-known, and at the start of this season, he signed a new deal with the company. However, in 2014, Ferrari made him an incredible offer, which he described as a “tempting” proposal. The man has been approached by the Ferrari squad several times, but Newey revealed that though he was tempted by the offer, it felt wrong to leave.

While talking to Sky Italy, he said, “I was in a bit of a difficult position. I didn’t want to walk out on that but equally I didn’t want to be in a position where we were operating with one hand tied behind our back in the engine department.”

He added, “It was a very difficult decision. Ferrari came up with an incredible offer, very attractive, and it caused me a lot of sleepless nights deciding what to do and who to go for. In the end, it would have felt wrong to walk out on Red Bull.”

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Do you think the Red Bull master duo’s intelligence will help the team win a few more championships?