“We need another Mario,” Christian Horner emphasizes the importance of an American driver
Follow Us
Christian Horner
F1’s popularity in the United States has witnessed a meteoric rise. While many credits the rise to the Netflix drama series Drive to Survive, which shows the drivers beyond the racing, others believe it could also be due to ESPN’s commercial-free coverage to the audience. Leaving the reasons aside, the phenomenal rise has excited American investors and audiences even more.
While in the form of Haas we already have an American F1 team and three races on the calendar from 2023, a new constructor, Andretti Autosport, is expected to join from 2024 to capitalise on the opportunity. However, Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, believes it is more important to have an F1 driver on the grid, like Mario Andretti, the 1978 world champion, rather than another team, as it will be more impactful on the Americans.
Horner, as quoted by the PlanetF1, said, “You need a driver that’s an American driver that’s going to be competitive, that’s going to run at the front. I think hopefully with this excitement that there is about Formula 1, there are going to be more boys and girls coming into karting at the junior levels, and it’s only a matter of time then hopefully before we see a really competitive World Champion American driver.”
ALSO READ: “I just keep my head down,” Lewis Hamilton hits back at Helmut Marko’s disrespectful comment
Christian Horner believes in the power of talent
Christian Horner claims that the team has been highly supportive of the American drivers. The Red Bull chief lists the examples of ex-F1 driver Scott Speed and current Formula 3 driver, Jak Crawford, as the Americans that they’ve backed.
And while Horner believes in the importance of having an American F1 driver, he also believes that it should be based on talent and merit. He said, “It’s not enough [to be American]. We did that with Scott Speed, he’s a good driver, we backed him all the way through from karting, but if the guys are running [in] midfield, it’s not enough. You’ve seen it with Max in Holland, with Fernando in Spain or Senna in Brazil, you need that driver to ignite the passion.”
Red Bull currently runs a development program for its drivers in its academy, comprising mainly of F2 and F3 drivers. Current drivers who graduated from the academy include Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly.
ALSO READ:
“They might be the surprise,” Charles Leclerc counting on Mercedes to join the championship battle
Stay Updated!
Manan Goel
(400 Articles Published)