Horner regrets not signing up one past F1 race winner

Christian Horner has built Red Bull's success in F1 with the help of many remarkable drivers, but the Briton admits he would have liked to have had one talent in particular under his orders.

Red Bull has spawned multiple race winners and a pair of outstanding F1 world champions over the years, with the likes of Mark Webber, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.

But Horner reckons that seven-time Grand Prix winner Juan-Pablo Montoya and Red Bull would have been a great match.

Montoya, known for his raw talent and fearless racing style, raced in F1 from 2001 to 2006, spending four seasons with Williams before moving to McLaren in 2005.

Horner believes that Montoya's competitive spirit and hunger for victory would have aligned perfectly with Red Bull's high-performance culture.

"There's a few over the years that I would have liked to have seen," replied Horner when asked on the Extraordinary Tales With Seb Coe podcast which drivers he would have liked to see at Red Bull.

"I think Montoya underperformed in Formula 1. I think he was a wonderfully talented driver that should have achieved more."

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But looking back, Horner also remembers a young man he once tested in F3000 with is Arden team.

"There was a driver that I tested in the Arden team that I again thought was a phenomenal driver that Formula 1 missed," he said.

"There was a chap called Tom Kristensen, [who] went on to enjoy tremendous success in sports cars."

Horner says F1 drivers come in all forms and sizes, but the great drivers that have risen through Red Bull's ranks all shared the same key strengths.

"There [are] so many great talents that you see come through, but they're all different," he said. They all have their own personalities, their own traits.

"But, with the good guys, there is that same steely, ruthless determination that they all share, that I see in Max [and] I saw in Sebastian obviously beforehand.

"It's that last little bit, they're prepared to go that little bit further."

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