Red Bull Racing has secured its fifth Formula 1 constructors’ championship and sixth driver’s championship this season quite easily.
But how did the team start? Where did the team start? And, more importantly, why did Christian Horner jump into a swimming pool naked in the second year of their operation? It was only yesterday. Or yesteryear. Yester-decade? It’s been a while.
The Red Bull team has its roots dating all the way back to Stewart Grand Prix, owned by the legendary Jackie Stewart. The team competed from 1997 to 1999, finishing ninth, eighth and fourth in the constructors’ championship. Rubens Barrichello raced for Stewart in all three seasons, and in quite the twist, modern Red Bull champion Max Verstappen’s father, Jos Verstappen, drove for the team in the second half of 1998. The Ford-powered car actually had some life in it in its final season, with Barrichello scoring three podiums and Johnny Herbert outright winning the European Grand Prix at a soaked Nurburgring. Following that season, Ford bought the team whole sale and rebranded it into Jaguar Racing.
Five forgettable seasons followed.
The team had three highlights in those years, in which they never finished higher than seventh in constructors’. The first was a podium in Monaco in 2001 thanks to high attrition and a very solid starting spot of sixth for Eddie Irvine. Much the same happened in 2002 at Monza, with Irvine scoring the podium once again.
The final highlight came in their final season, in which a pair of mechanics won an inflatable Donkey from the movie Shrek and paraded it around the paddock at seven races. No, this is not a joke. There’s even a gallery of most of the drivers on the grid signing it. There is a picture on the internet of Kimi Raikkonen signing an inflatable balloon of Donkey and this is obviously the greatest thing either Stewart or Jaguar ever accomplished.
Anyway, the balloon was eventually auctioned for charity. Jaguar was auctioned off not too long after.
Red Bull purchased the team in advance of the 2005 season and their choice as to who would run the team was perfect. Some people love Christian Horner and thank he’s great. Some people think he’s an asshole. Regardless, the one thing neither side can call Horner is quiet. An excellent choice for a loud, in-your-face brand like Red Bull.
Horner tried his hand as a driver and made it as far as Formula 3000, the final step for many into F1. In pre-season testing one year, he…
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