His on-track role dovetailed with running his own Arden International team and at the end of 1998 Christian opted to focus on the management side of motorsport and hung up his helmet. Over the course of the following five years he built Arden into a formidable competitor, taking three consecutive International Formula 3000 Team championships between 2002 and 2004 as well as Drivers’ titles in 2003 and 2004.
His success brought the young team owner to the attention of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz and when the company decided to field its own F1 entry in 2005, it turned to Christian to run Red Bull Racing. In doing so Christian became the sport’s youngest Team Principal at just 31 years of age.
A solid first season in F1 saw Christian guide the Team to seventh in the Constructors’ Championship. At the end of the season he drafted in legendary designer Adrian Newey as Chief Technical Officer and following a period of rapid development that included podium finishes in each of the following three seasons, by 2009 the Team was in a position to capitalise on major rule changes in the sport.
Red Bull Racing’s maiden win and first 1-2 finish arrived at the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix and at the close of the season it had collected five more victories and 15 podium finishes overall, finishing second in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships.
The following year brought the ultimate step up and Christian led Red Bull Racing to its first brace of titles, securing the Constructors’ Championship at the penultimate round in Brazil, and adding the Drivers’ title at a tense finale in Abu Dhabi.
The double win set in motion a stunning era of dominance and the Team wrapped up double title wins in each of the next three campaigns, resulting in a remarkable eight titles and 47 wins in its first eight years of existence.
Christian’s achievement in winning four consecutive double titles was recognised in 2013 when he was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II.
However, in 2014 Formula 1 moved from 2.4-litre, naturally-aspirated V8 powerplants to complex 1.6-litre turbocharged hybrid V6 power units. The switch hit the Team’s engine partner hard and though it continued to deliver wins and podiums, the days of Red Bull dominance were temporarily ended.
Under Christian’s leadership, the Team regrouped and when it launched a partnership with Honda in 2019 the pathway back to the top of the sport was clear and over the season the team scored Three wins and nine podiums overall.
The race back towards titles was halted at the start of 2020. The global COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lockdowns worldwide but while the start of Formula 1 season would be put on hold until July, the factory did not rest. Responding to the health crisis the Team joined a coalition of F1 outfits for Project Pitlane, an initiative to design, develop and build the BlueSky ventilator. Though the evolving nature of the pandemic ultimately ended the project early, The UK government identified the ventilator as potentially important in the fight against COVID-19.
The season eventually got underway in July and the RB16 brought the Team two victories and 13 podiums but it was to be the following campaign that lifted the Team back to the top. At the end of an epic, hotly contested 2021 campaign, Max Verstappen secured his first Drivers’ Championship title and the Team added another 11 wins and 23 podiums to its tally.
Another new challenge awaited in 2022 as the sport ushered in the largest changes to the regulations seen in more than four decades.
However, just as in 2009, the Team once again made the most of the aerodynamic and chassis changes and the all-new RB18 entered the 2022 as a true contender. Optimised over the course of the season via a focused programme of upgrades, the RB18 proved truly dominant in the second half of the season. Max Verstappen secured his second world title with four races in hand, at the Japanese Grand Prix, and the Team took its fifth Constructors’ title and its first in nine years at the following round, the United States Grand Prix.
In tandem with his efforts at the helm of Oracle Red Bull Racing, Christian had also overseen huge growth at the company’s Milton Keynes headquarters with the establishment of a number of complementary businesses. The race team was joined in 2016 by Red Bull Advanced Technologies to leverage the team’s motorsport-bred expertise in the development of high-tech solutions for external organisations. Entering into a partnership with Aston Martin, and based upon Newey’s vision for the ultimate road car, the company delivered the stunning Valkyrie hypercar.
Then in 2021 Christian led the Team as it embarked on perhaps its greatest challenge – to become a fully autonomous independent Team by matching chassis design with its own power unit design and production facility. Red Bull Powertrains was born.
Increasing success on track is now being mirrored by massive expansion at the Red Bull Technology Campus. And under Christian’s leadership, a new era is underway.
In addition to his role as Team Principal and CEO of Oracle Red Bull Racing, Christian is also an Ambassador for the Wings for Life charity. Established by late Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz and two-time motocross world champion Heinz Kinigadner, Wings for Life is dedicated to finding a cure for spinal cord injury. Since 2004, its has funded 274 international research projects at well-respected institutes such as the University of Cambridge (UK), Harvard Medical School (USA), and Charité Berlin (Germany).
Read More
