Red Bull team principal Horner receives CBE

In brief

Horner to receive CBE

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner will be made a CBE as part of King Charles’ New Year Honours.

Horner, who has been team principal of Red Bull’s F1 team since the team joined the grid in 2005, has led Red Bull to six constructors’ championship titles and took Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen to seven drivers’ world titles between them. Red Bull enjoyed their most successful ever season in 2023.

Having already been awarded an OBE (Officer of the order of the British Empire) in 2013, Horner will receive the higher honour of an OBE in the New Year. The honour is noted for Horner’s “services to motorsport”.

Haas “got away” with being slow early on

Nico Hulkenberg says Haas were fortunate that their rivals struggled more for pace then they did in the early part of the 2023 season.

Haas rose as high as seventh in the constructors’ championship at the mid phase of the season but fell to finish last for the second time in three years. But Hulkenberg says their earlier success was down to their rivals failing to capitalise.

“The signs were there early in the season and we got away with it because other people were struggling more,” he said. “Once they cleaned up and brought some real developments, that’s when we started to pay the penalty and the second half of the season was really tough.”

Palou doubtful of more dominance

IndyCar champion Alex Palou says he does not expect to have more seasons as dominant as 2023.

Palou won the title with a round to spare after five victories over the season. However, he believes 2023 was an exceptional year.

“I think IndyCar has always been super, super hard,” he said. “Especially nowadays with now the points system – it’s really hard to win it before the last race of the season.

“But we had an excellent season overall. Our worst position was eighth, I believe. We had five wins. We were always running up front. We just felt like it was our year. It was one of those years that everything went well.

“I don’t expect to have a lot of years like that. Hopefully we get some more, but it’s not going to be 10 more years like that obviously.”

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

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