Miami Grand Prix: Christian Horner on Red Bull’s reliability issues, Sergio Pérez’s contract, Mercedes struggles, more

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The bowl of pesto rigatoni was just begging to be eaten, but Christian Horner was a busy man Thursday.

Well, let’s not kid ourselves: Horner is always busy. But on this inaugural Miami Grand Prix weekend, Horner said his schedule is fuller than it’s ever been.

If only his stomach was. The problem with being in demand is it doesn’t leave much time for anything extra, including lunch.

“There’s only one of me, and I can’t be in three places at one time,” the Red Bull Racing team principal said.

So while fielding questions from a small group of American reporters in the shaded Miami paddock, Horner politely asked whether anyone would mind if he alternated between talking and eating. Perched on the edge of a white cushioned patio chair outside the Red Bull Racing offices, Horner sneaked bites of pasta between answers.

The paddock was buzzing behind him, and Horner found it impossible to ignore Formula One’s explosive growth on a week like this.

“It’s the best health it’s ever been,” he said. “There’s more (corporate) partners, more new fans and followers coming into Formula One than we’ve ever seen. We’re emerging in markets that we’ve previously been very weak in.”

One of those markets? The United States, where Horner says “everything has gone exponential.”

But there was plenty more on Horner’s mind aside from just the Netflix “Drive to Survive” effect in the U.S. Here are other topics of conversation with Horner as Miami’s debut weekend arrived:

Reliability issues

Speed hasn’t been a problem for Red Bull in the first four races of the season, but getting cars to the finish has been. Red Bull had three combined DNFs in the first three races, including two from defending world champion Max Verstappen.

In the two races Verstappen has finished, he’s won — including the last race at Imola, when Red Bull got its first 1-2 finish since 2016.

So are the reliability concerns a thing of the past?

“I can’t sit here with absolute confidence because they’re still Formula One cars,” Horner said. “But we understood the issue in Bahrain, which was independent from the problem that stopped Max in Australia. It was great to see both cars run problem-free in Imola and — touch wood — we’re hoping that run of performance will continue.”

Sergio Pérez’s contract

Sergio Pérez played a key role as wingman to Verstappen during last year’s championship run and has continued to perform well this season. Aside from his season-opening DNF (a mechanical problem that wasn’t his fault), Pérez has finishes of fourth, second and second.

Those kinds of results will make Red Bull’s decision to retain the Mexican driver an easy one if Pérez can maintain his pace. Horner said he’d prefer to make a decision on Pérez’s future by F1’s summer break.

“He’s doing a great job,” Horner said. “Everybody’s happy with him on the team. If we had to make a decision today, of course we would want to extend. As long as he keeps doing what he’s doing, it will be a no-brainer.”

Mercedes’ struggles

When F1 last visited the United States in October, Horner’s Red Bull team was amid an epic title fight with Mercedes. Verstappen ultimately prevailed over Lewis Hamilton in December in one of racing’s most controversial finishes, but everyone assumed the battle would simply resume anew in 2022.

That hasn’t been the case. Red Bull is in another fight, but this time with Ferrari instead of Mercedes, which has been noncompetitive compared to its own high standards.

So what does Horner, whose rivalry with counterpart Toto Wolff has captured worldwide attention, think of the Mercedes struggles?

“It demonstrates nothing is certain,” he said. “They talked quite a bit last year of moving quite early on to (development for) this year’s car. Obviously, they’ve experienced some problems, and they’re obviously nowhere near where they would want to be at this point in time.

“They’ve got some very bright people there. I’m sure they’ll work it out. The question is: How long will it take?”

Whatever the length of time until Mercedes gets competitive again — and it’s not close, judging by Hamilton’s failure to lead a single lap this year — Horner said Red Bull needs to capitalize on its performance.

“They will come back on song at some point,” he said. “There are too many smart people there not to work it out. So at some point, I expect them to be a factor. It’s such a long season, and things can change very quickly.”

Team America

Michael Andretti’s attempts to get into F1 team ownership have been thwarted so far, but Horner said it’s more important to have an American driver than a second American-owned team (Haas F1 Team being the other).

“The drivers are the stars,” Horner said. “Yes, it would be lovely to have the Andretti name in Formula One. But an Andretti driver — if Mario made a comeback — would be way more powerful.”

He pointed to Verstappen becoming a “national hero” in the Netherlands and cited Spain’s love of Fernando Alonso and Brazil’s adulation of the late Ayrton Senna as other examples.

The problem with that is there is only one American driver in Formula Two (Logan Sargeant) and one in Formula Three (Jak Crawford, in Red Bull’s feeder program). Horner said F1’s growth will generate more American talent, but it has to start at the grassroots karting level.

“There will be an American world champion in the future, for sure,” he said. “It’s just a question of when.”

Getting recognized

F1 fans already knew of Horner, but he’s noticed anecdotal evidence of the sport’s growing popularity in Europe and the United States as his fame spreads.

The other morning, Horner was on a run in London and jogged past a group of schoolchildren waiting to get on the bus.

“Hey, it’s the guy from Red Bull!” they said.

That would have never happened previously, he said.

And as for the U.S., Horner said it’s not just his wife, Geri — the former “Ginger Spice” of Spice Girls fame — who gets recognized now.

“Suddenly, the guys at passport control get excited not just about my wife, but they know who I am,” Horner said. “You come here five years ago and the guy or girl at passport control has no idea. Now they’re asking for a selfie.”

Quality over quantity

Talk of further expansion on the F1 calendar does not sit well with Horner, who believes the number of grands prix should remain at 23 per season, which is already a record for a single year.

“It’s like a book,” he said. “You’re better off having 23 chapters that are more memorable than having 30 chapters, seven of which you don’t remember. So my view is keep it limited to the 23.”

Horner doesn’t necessarily think it should be the same 23 events. Many other countries want F1 races, and Africa doesn’t have a single event. So Horner thinks pressure should be put on existing venues to show they deserve to retain their places on the calendar.

As for Monaco, the legendary grand prix that has been discussed recently as a potential cut due to a lack of action, Horner can’t fathom its disappearance.

“Everything in life, you can never say everything’s forever,” he said. “So ultimately, at some point, that race — if it’s not viable — will get challenged. But it’s unimaginable to think of the Monaco Grand Prix not being on a Formula One calendar.”

Verstappen’s voice

While Verstappen has declined to participate in “Drive to Survive,” Horner said he’s OK with his star preferring to focus on driving. As Horner put it, Verstappen is “only interested in racing.”

“Max obviously has drawn a line with what he’s prepared to give out and what he’s not prepared to give,” Horner said. “It’s all about finding that balance, and each individual is different.”

Still, there are cameras everywhere in the F1 paddock these days. As soon as a driver enters the paddock, photographers begin snapping away and film crews track their movements. Horner even pointed to a nearby crew shooting this media session and said it was for the next season of “Drive to Survive.”

So Verstappen can’t exactly pick and choose where he’s shown, aside from declining to do sit-down interviews.

“It’s got to a point now that we have so many cameras around, you don’t know who’s Netflix, who’s your own internal production, who’s Sky (Sports),” Horner said. “They all morph into one.”

(Photo of Christian Horner and Sergio Pérez: Dan Istitene – Formula 1 / Getty Images)