Christian Horner presented himself as a replacement for Sebastian Vettel on Friday, when the Red Bull principal took to the track in one of his team’s title-winning Formula One cars for the first time in two decades.
The 50-year-old Briton, a former Formula 3000 racer (1998) who has headed up Red Bull since 2005, completed demonstration laps of Silverstone in Vettel’s retired four times world champion RB8 on Thursday.
“It was fun. The first time I’ve driven a Red Bull car and certainly the first with a hand clutch and two pedals,” he told reporters at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where he will also drive their 2011 RB7 over the weekend.
Horner added that the previous F1 car he drove was a 1993 Lotus at Hethel during a shakedown test of what is now-owned by Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll, who had been sponsored with the entry when it ran as Lotus.
Sebastian Vettel was meant to race one of the cars here, but he’s on holiday with his family and couldn’t make Goodwood so they said why don’t you jump in it?,” continued Horner.
“Im going to love racing this car: Ive not driven a single-seater since 1998, and an F1 for much longer…
“Everyone remembers last summers movements to boycott a manual gearbox with paddles, that the feel of operating a hand clutch and left foot brake in conjunction is becoming celebrated. It was an absolute honour and it was really a privilege to drive one of these cars, which were championship scavengers.
And so, “I’ll be Sebastian’s stunt double for the weekend here at Goodwood.”
The German won his titles between 2010-13 with Red Bull. They again went through a golden period with triple champion Max Verstappen — who will also drive at Goodwood this year alongside Mexican team-mate Sergio Perez.
Horner said: “It’s staggering how fast these cars are now and what aero effect they generate.
“Biggest thing that hit me was when I lifted off, and it’s like someone has thrown an anchor out.
To the average road car driver it would be like brakeing very hard in a road vehicle. Then you need to jam the brakes and fight carsickness. I was having so much fun that I overshot the pitlane and even managed to sneak in an extra lap.
