Guenther Steiner’s ‘too much drama’ Christian Horner quip on Red Bull dominance

Guenther Steiner joked that Red Bull boss Christian Horner was more “annoying” in their era of dominance compared to Toto Wolff and Mercedes.

Red Bull and Mercedes have accounted for all the F1 title wins for more than a decade, Red Bull winning four consecutive title doubles from 2010-13, before Mercedes took over with a streak of eight Constructors’ titles in a row, ended by Red Bull who are chasing a third successive Constructors’ crown in F1 2024 as McLaren strive to end this two-team tale, leading the way with six rounds to go.

Guenther Steiner jokes ‘too much’ Christian Horner ‘drama’ in Red Bull era

And when appearing on the Red Flags podcast , Steiner, who served as Haas team principal from 2016-2023, was asked to decide who out of Horner and Wolff was “more annoying” when their team was dominating.

“Who was more annoying on top? I would say Christian,” Steiner replied.

“Because it came with too much drama, you know.

“There was never really any drama with Toto. It was just like, ‘We are winning, well, because we are the best’ [in Steiner’s best Toto Wolff voice].”

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Red Bull had established dominance in F1’s ground effect era which began in 2022, but after continuing those ways into early F1 2024, times have since become tougher with Red Bull now winless in their last eight races, while McLaren has taken over as the Constructors’ Championship leaders, establishing a 41-point lead with six rounds to go.

Steiner was asked whether rival teams begin rooting for a McLaren in this situation to usurp the dominant team, and while there is still “euphoria” over what the Woking squad has achieved, he warned that dominant displays like Singapore, where Lando Norris won by over 20 seconds from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, start to change how McLaren are perceived.

“I think it switches pretty quick,” said Steiner, “because now everybody thinks what McLaren showed in Singapore is like, wow, I mean, ‘We need to start and take them [seriously]’.

“And I think McLaren and Zak [Brown, CEO] and Andrea [Stella, team principal] do a good job to be loved, you know. He [Brown] makes peace with Christian, so he looks good, you know, ‘We are all friendly people, but we steal the Championship and you don’t really notice it’.

“But in the moment, there’s still euphoria, because they have taken away this dominance from Red Bull.

“And Andreas Stella is a very humble guy, you know, his etiquette is perfect. He doesn’t swear, I’m sure about that. And Zak is just Zak, you know, he’s always happy to be everywhere, anywhere, and just be happy.”

McLaren could yet challenge for an F1 2024 title double, with Norris having reduced Verstappen’s Drivers’ Championship lead to 52 points.

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