Red Bull 'vetoed Drive to Survive footage of Horner'

Christian Horner (GBR) Red Bull Racing Team Principal on the grid. 23.10.2022. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 19, United States Grand Prix, Austin, Texas, USA, Race Day. - www.xpbimages.com, EMail: requests@xpbimages.com © Copyright: Bearne / XPB Images
© XPB 

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has revealed that the team had used its 'get out of jail' card to veto some embarrassing footage and comments made in the heat of the moment.

Although Horner has been generally supportive of Netflix behind the scenes documentary series Drive to Survive, there have been some moments over the last five seasons where he's felt forced to put his foot down.

"My wife has always said to me a pat on the back is only six inches from a kick up the arse," Horner memorably said earlier this year. "This is like the Kardashians on wheels."

More recently, Horner revealed fears that some of the hours of footage gathered by the film makers over the course of the season could have proven commercially damaging to the team.

“What you’ve got to remember is that it’s a television show,” Horner told the Financial Times newspaper in an exclusive interview this week. “They capture hours and hours of content.

Mercedes AMG F1 being filmed by the Netflix production 'Drive to Survive'. 28.07.2019. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, German Grand Prix, Hockenheim, Germany, Race Day. - www.xpbimages.com, EMail: requests@xpbimages.com - copy of publication required for printed pictures. Every used picture is fee-liable. © Copyright: Moy / XPB Images

“The problem is they put a microphone on you at the beginning of the day and you forget that they’re there," he explained. "Then you get to the end of the season and they tend to send you the clips of just you and your team.

“You think ‘Did I really say that? Did I really call someone a See You Next Tuesday’?

"At that point we say, ‘You can’t put that in there, there’s a part of the car you can’t show'," he admitted. "That’s the only get out of jail card we have.”

Max Verstappen withdrew his agreement to participate in the series in during the 2022 season after accusing the show of faking storylines and being 'over the top' in how it depicted clashes between drivers

F1 Camera Operator with a tribute to Thomas Bonnecarrere. 17.06.2021. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 7, French Grand Prix, Paul Ricard, France, Preparation Day. - www.xpbimages.com, EMail: requests@xpbimages.com © Copyright: Moy / XPB Images

However he subsequently relented, and has agreed to a limited interview for the new run of episodes for 2023.

Red Bull also had a falling out with a different media outlet when it withdrew co-operation with Sky Sports F1 during last year's Mexican GP over comments made by pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter