Horner: It hurts when you’re losing

Ahead of this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix, in the wake of RBR sealing the 2023 F1 Constructors' title, Horner spoke to Sky F1 about beating Mercedes for a second year running, while Red Bull's ace Max Verstappen is a couple of days away from claiming a hat-trick of F1 Drivers' titles.

Of his old feud with Wolff, Horner said: “To me, sport is about rivalry. It’s great to have rivalry. There has to be respect, but sport isn’t sport without rivalry.

“Obviously, we haven’t seen much of him in the last couple of years but I’m sure he is plotting. I’m sure he’s got something that they are working on, and they are a great team, they are a big team, they’ve got great drivers, they’ll be looking to fight back," predicted Horner, not before having a dig at his counterpart.

From 2014 until the end of 2021, Wolff's Mighty Mercedes claimed an unprecedented 15 F1 titles in eight seasons, taking Lewis Hamilton to six WDC crowns and Nico Rosberg to one.

At the same time, it was a barren spell for Red Bull (and all the other F1 teams for that matter) which Horner recalled: “It hurts when you’re losing. If it doesn’t hurt then you shouldn’t be doing it. We had a long period, six to seven seasons of hurt, of being the bridesmaid, and we never lost sight of where we wanted to be. We were the team to break that domination."

And with it thanks mainly to Verstappen, Red Bull are now the dominant force. Perhaps even at that level, Mercedes were with Hamilton at the height of their success.

But Horner is wary: "Everything goes in cycles, at some point, somebody will beat us. Now, whether it is Mercedes or Ferrari or McLaren or Aston Martin or whoever, we don’t know. All we can control is what we are doing. So, that’s all we are focused on, ourselves.”

With the team prize in the bag, all eyes are on Verstappen sealing the deal on Saturday, which Horner acknowledged: “We don’t care when we win it, as long as we win it. It’s about getting that trophy, getting that third title to his name.

"The fact is it is done in Qatar on a Saturday evening, will make Sunday even more enjoyable to go into that grand prix if he achieves it, as the three-time world champion.

"I don’t think it really matters whether it is Saturday or Sunday, so long as we bring that trophy back into the cabinet," added the Red Bull team boss, ahead of the inevitable.