Christian Horner turned down a surprising offer from a legendary F1 team that could have changed the sport forever.
Christian Horner recently shared that he turned down a surprising offer to move to another F1 team back in 2013—a decision that could have changed the sport quite a bit if he had accepted.
Horner was at the helm of the Milton Keynes-based Red Bull team for over 20 years, joining soon after the energy drink company took over and renamed it from Jaguar.
During those years as team principal and CEO, he helped turn Red Bull into one of the most successful teams in Formula 1.
He left Red Bull midway through the 2025 season and has mostly stayed out of the spotlight since—until recently, when he started promoting his upcoming autobiography, *Drive*.
Under Horner’s leadership, Red Bull had two major golden eras. From 2010 to 2013, Sebastian Vettel won four straight Drivers’ Championships, and Red Bull took home the Constructors’ Championship four years in a row.
Starting in 2014, when the sport introduced new turbo-hybrid V6 engines, Mercedes took over, winning seven straight Drivers’ titles—six with Lewis Hamilton and one with Nico Rosberg in 2016—and eight straight Constructors’ titles. But Max Verstappen ended Mercedes’ streak by winning the 2021 championship in a dramatic finale at Abu Dhabi.
That 2021 win kicked off Verstappen’s run of four straight Drivers’ titles, and Horner also led Red Bull to Constructors’ wins in 2022 and 2023. Then, McLaren took the Constructors’ titles in 2024 and 2025, and Lando Norris edged out Verstappen for the Drivers’ Championship last year.
Now, looking back, Horner has revealed that almost halfway through his time at Red Bull, he had a chance to join the team that would become his biggest rival.
In 2013, just as Vettel was about to clinch his fourth Drivers’ title and Red Bull were dominating, Horner was approached by the late Niki Lauda, who was Mercedes’ non-executive chairman at the time.
Lauda was fresh off convincing Hamilton to leave McLaren for Mercedes—a move that changed the sport’s landscape. In 2013, right before Mercedes’ dominance began, Lauda tried to recruit Horner away from Red Bull.
Horner shared, according to Race Plus, that Lauda said: “’I respect you as a racer. I want you to come. Besides, Helmut [Marko, Red Bull advisor] is a miserable b*****d.’”
But Horner listened, then politely declined. Sebastian Vettel was at his peak, and Red Bull were on the rise. He told Lauda: “’Niki, I’ve been winning World Championships with Red Bull.’”
Of course, Toto Wolff later became Mercedes’ team boss and Horner’s main rival. But if Lauda had convinced Horner to switch teams back then, history might have looked very different.