2023 F1 Team Principals RANKED Pt. 2 📈🏁 | Sky Sports F1 Podcast

SUBSCRIBE ► http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyF1
The Sky Sports F1 Podcast is back for one last time in 2023 with a special bonus episode! In this Part 2, Matt Baker, Ted Kravitz and Crofty finish their rankings of the 2023 Team Principals of the F1 grid.

Add the Sky Sports F1 TV channel to your Sky package by clicking here ► http://bit.ly/WatchSkyF1
MORE FROM SKY SPORTS F1:
►FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/SkySportsF1
►INSTAGRAM: http://www.instagram.com/SkySportsF1
►TWITTER: https://www.twitter.com/SkySportsF1

MORE FROM SKY SPORTS ON YOUTUBE:
►SKY SPORTS FOOTBALL: http://bit.ly/SSFootballSub
►SKY SPORTS BOXING: http://bit.ly/SSBoxingSub
►SKY SPORTS CRICKET: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyCricket
►SOCCER AM: http://bit.ly/SoccerAMSub
►SKY SPORTS F1: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyF1
►SKY SPORTS: http://bit.ly/SkySportsSub
►SKY SPORTS GOLF: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsGolf

Okay let’s move on to uh our next our next team principal Mike crack uh Aston Martin uh best season today finished fifth in the championship on 280 points big year for Aston Martin new Factory and an incredible first half of the Season or first eight races six podiums

In eight races for Aston Martin and for Fernando Alonzo middle part of the Season cofy it got a little bit trickier didn’t it and how would you great how Mike crack was able to navigate the stormy waters as it were of the middle of the Formula 1 season it was a tricky

Tricky task for him um the downside and being a West Ham fan I’m always aware of this the downside to starting well is that the doubts always creeping you know there’s there’s no the only thing worse for my team than being a go down has been a goal up uh quite

Frankly but you know when you’re performing well and it hasn’t happened before the doubts are going to creep in you’re not used to this level of of success and something happened around about Spain time Canada was a bit of an anomaly in terms of the setup but I

Think something happened with that Aston Martin car that it they tried to chase performance too quickly bringing upgrades to the track that maybe the team weren’t totally on top of before they got to the track when the final upgrade came in that made things worse that they then got rid of

And went back to finessing the xand vort upgrade that’s when they picked up performance again but never to the extent of the start of the season and when you’ve got the owner is Lawrence stroll big character um you know was putting all the money it’s all Lawrence’s money and his and his

Co-investors and then you’ve got Martin whitmarsh is the group CEO a guy who has very successfully run McLaren and other big Tech businesses uh in the Aerospace world before that um and still maybe thinks that I don’t know whether he whitmarsh does think he has has

Something to prove in Formula 1 but is Keen to get involved that’s certainly fair to say then I think the reason that I’ve put Mike crack as as second in second out of 10 two second best nine points in the HR is that he kept the

Owner happy he kept the person above him Martin whitmarsh happy he kept Fernando Alonso happy he kept his technical people happy he kept Lance stroll happy and all of that made him I think the the second best in terms of human relations um Team principal out there this year in

Terms of dealing with the media cofy I completely agree with you he used to schedule um te uh media sessions at times that the media would never be at the circuit like 7:30 in the morning so uh he thought well that’s the only slot

I’ve got uh the rest of the time I need to devote to engineering and stuff that’s going to make the carg go quicker so quite rightly you media can come in at a time that suit that suits me not you and what do you know nobody turned

Up because was all too early or it was before their buses their buses got in or whatever so media actually I’ve uh put him down as as eighth um sh in terms of scheduling and uh wasn’t always what’s the best way to put it he wasn’t always clearly explaining what

Had happened to the car if he knew and that’s what I think just to expand on what you’re saying cofy in the middle of the season they kind of blamed Fernando half blamed the tires halfway through the season then he blamed um some new bits in the front Wing I wasn’t really

Aware of of that and then they eventually got round to whether it was the new floor in uh Austin that didn’t really work and then they took it off and then that’s what led to the to the to the podium in Brazil um that there was the problem he wasn’t always fully

Explaining assuming that he did know to the media exactly where aston’s Pace went in the middle of the Season you would he would say well well it’s nothing to do with you media thanks for coming but go away it’s for us to do in the team which is again a particularly a

Very very fair point and why in leadership I’ve actually got Mike uh crack as uh sixth just behind James vs um so uh yeah I think a good season and um well-tempered well-liked man uh gone after the points with Andy Stevenson that they missed in Austria because of

The track limits thing which I think was great without those points might have been very costly for them uh at the end of the season in the constructors and of course he had to put up uh with all the jokes about his name not least from um

Some of our colleagues so he did that with good grace and uh good humor and uh yeah he’s he’s a very very solid um sort of mid-table for me it was their best season ever and it brought eight podiums it brought a fifth place um that could

Have been so much better but you know there’s something to aim at for for next year and Aston Martin should be hugely proud of their achievements in 2023 but the pressure’s on because Mike’s bedded in now as team principal Aston Martin need need a voice

On on the on the big stage amongst the other teams he needs to I think grow into the the Toto Wolf the Christian her the Fred vur kind of role and so does our next team principal that we’ll get on to in a moment because that’s the

Aspir ation of Aston Martin to be competing with the big teams that’s not just on the track but that’s off the track as well and and also you know you’ve mentioned that they they moved into the new Factory to do everything they’ve done whilst basically whilst

Moving house I mean if Ted stood up you’d see that he’s still unpacking boxes in his house I mean look at this I mean how long have you been in that place now a year and I start I’ve had to hide that packing box with a nice a nice

Cushion so uh yeah it’s difficult it is difficult try to find the time to find the time to move house and compete on a racetrack every other week you know is damn near impossible and teds had races off impressive uh yes look I one more com one more comment on Mike crack as

Well I think the the L stroll perform or the the L stroll performances in the second half of the Season were were very interesting I think it all came to head and Cat didn’t it when he when he pushed pushed someone uh in the in the garage

And I think I I did I I think that maybe could it that seem to spill over into the media and I do wonder if there was anything more he could have done as the team principal perhaps but then it is very difficult when the owner of the

Team is is L stoll’s father it’s very unique circumstances so perhaps he did very well given the situation that he found himself I would say behind the scenes knowing Mike as I do he would have been addressing the issues head on and um they would have

They would have found a way to help Lance through that and I think Mike is very good at that the the Pastoral Care side of being a team principal I think he’s very very good at that but I think you know talking to the media about it

Be it consciously or or or or subconsciously that’s not something he wanted to do yeah he wasn’t interested yeah good fair enough okay uh Mike crack so Ted 26 points for you uh cofy you got 24 points for for Mike and then I gave

Him 25 so I think in many ways I mean what you know had we not had such good scores for James vals and Andrea Estell who will come on to in a bit um I think Mike CRA could have finished higher than he did because I think he had a very

Good season let’s move on then to talk about Andreas Stella and actually interestingly they experienced a mid-season turnaround whereas obviously Mike was was was overseeing the beginning of the Season turnaround for ason Martin so in many ways their sort of performances on track were slightly

In the sense of sense of how well they did and maybe the unexpected nature of it but yeah look McLaren brilliant season probably one of the best midseason turnarounds ever in the history of Formula 1 I think we could probably I don’t want to say Lazarus

Esque but let’s say it Lazarus es from where that car was you do yeah this this thing Rose like Lazarus of old if you think back to where McLaren were at the starts of the year in Bahrain almost certainly the slowest car if not one of

The slowest cars to to turn it around incredible um Ted take take the floor in terms of where what you see the strengths of Andrea Stella um so I’ve actually marked Stella first in the in the HR department um out of 10 and that is because uh of the way that he

Explained his differing role so he’s been with McLaren for a while um was at Ferrari before that won a championship with Kimmy reenan and um almost won another championship with Fernando Alonso but when he was racing director of McLaren all he needed to know were

The 300 people or so who were in his in his group and the way he explained it when he took over his team principal when Zach gave him that job after Andreas cidel left for Saba he needed to get to know the other 800 people that

Make up McLaren and not only has he done that and he is not a extravagant flamboyant figure he has done that with respect and admiration and has kept everybody together at what could have been after the early season disappointments for McLaren a very fractious and potentially um spiraling

Time but he’s done a great job on the HR that McLaren for large parts of the season was the second fastest car in Formula 1 arguably the only car that worried Max for stappen in the hands of maybe Landon Norris or oscap asri on a on a on a regular basis together with

Carlos SE the only other car that won a race yes it was a Sprint race but it still won a race apart from the Red Bull this year so technical uh once they got going is very good um leadership I got Stella actually uh a little bit further

Down because it was his first year and because he is a quiet man softly spoken in the greatest Traditions uh of Ross Brawn media and sponsorship I’ve got Stella second because while he’s very good um with the media he’ll always answer questions there is that Zack Brown element above him who deals with

The sponsorship so it is a slightly sort of split uh Team principal um but yeah I mean I must say when he was first I mean people might not know this about me um but I’ve got a soft spot from McLaren people think I’ve got a soft spot for

Another team it’s actually not true uh I have if there is a team that I have a soft spot for it’s for McLaren because growing up I always loved Anon Center I admired the job that Ron Dennis did uh and Martin Whit Marsh and and and Dave

Ryan and going back a long time anyway if I do have a SAU poot it’s for McLaren um not the team you think I have a SAU poot for um but it’s true cut him in half he bleeds red and white I do I not

Red and white it’s true not fire um when a guy and and I sort of embodied Ron Dennis for a minute when a guy who had won a championship for Ferrari became the McLaren team principal you know in my Ron Dennis head I was kind of you know does not compute

Does not compute but he made it work he made it work and in the you know in in the in the Glory Days that I grew up in where McClaren and Ferrari could not have been more keen enemies for a guy who’s won an Italian guy who’s won a

Championship for Ferrari is now the McLaren team principal this isn’t going to work but it did work really well and that’s what I’m so happy with he’s a very personable guy he’s good with the media he’s good on leadership he’s good on technical performance um and uh I

Mean I’ve only he’s my i i s of played around with it actually before I thought had him third then I had him second over overall but uh then I had him fourth but yeah he’s right up there for me I know I said James vs was team principal of the

Year for me he is but Andre EST Stell actually I gave more marks but I gave him more marks because technical performance I think I I I just think he’s he’s done a better job in that respect but he probably had better resources to play around with to get

That technical performance but I do remember this time last year January last year when when he was announced as team principal and and Ted you and I might have had a conversation that went something along the lines of what really interesting bit left field not sure is

It that there was no one else about and they just had to promote someone from within and I’m glad to say that all the doubts have massively evaporated from for a man whose biggest strength I think is patience and patience with his team and with his drivers and that patience he

Then expects from those above him and if he gets that patience he then delivers for the team and he is a brilliant example of how patience is is a is is a is a word that we should all use in in our in our daily Walk of Life and

Certainly in our career because it went so badly for McLaren at the start of the season they they were they were slower than a slow thing at the start of the year but behind the scenes they’d identified that this is what was going to happen and they were working to put

It right and they didn’t just rush things to the track they brought upgrades when they were ready when the team understood the upgrades when they knew how it was going to be and they started in Austria with Lando and they had them both on both cars at

Silverstone and it was an instant impact to be fair and I know this because I’ve spoken to him we had a great conversation on the um on the way to catch a plane I think it was to Hungary where I said I am never going to believe

A word you say to me ever again and Andre I said why is that I said you told me these upgrades were worth 2/10 of a second you little liar he went well we thought they were I said yeah but then when I said to you they’re worth a bit

More you still said no it’s only a couple of T he went well I just wanted to make sure first he said but we don’t need to get carried away we don’t want to get carried away and this was in Hungary he said we don’t want to get

Carried away making this car even faster because we might lose focus on next year we still need to think about next year that’s more important than this year so I’m I’m really confident for a good year for McLaren for next season I think Andrea like Mike crack is an engineer

And loves the company of Engineers but also feels very relaxed and very happy speaking to the media too and he’s got to know the media he’s he’s engaged with the media and and we have you know on a Sunday we have a briefing ahead of every

Every race um that Andrea gives and and it was his idea to do it and and we get a lot of information and and we form relationships as well and it’s been a pleasure to really get to know him properly uh throughout the course of

This year King tennis fan uh wants to go to Wimbledon uh next year because he absolutely loves his tennis um you’ll find him in the gym working out after he’s finished work for the today I know this because in Spain I went to a reception and I had to walk past the gym

And there he was working out at around about halfast 9 at night uh there in lies a lesson Ted for all of us if you want to get on uh to be fair but I I I just think I whe whether whether Zach realized exactly what he’d done uh and

Knew what was going to come I I don’t know I need to ask Zach this but he has been a a delight for and a surprise to many and I’m with you Ted you know it’s nice to see McLaren on their uppers it really is fun fact about Andrea Stella

Matthew he uh he he likes tennis and um the only remaining question is uh how he couldn’t tell ask David Croft what he was doing in his car to go to the Hungary airport but um good that you managed to Hitch a lift Cy on a bu we were walking no we were

Walking to the uh to the gate we’re on our way too hung we’re walking to the gate we were having a conversation as we going to the airport one of the one of the best ways to find anything out in Formula 1 is when you’re flying and

You’re flying and you you get to stand in a queue with people who can’t avoid you who when we get to the track can find they can’t leave can find areas to avoid you they can’t leave so you no that’s true I get a lot of that at

Stanstead and luten yes um but no I mean I think the other thing the other thing I should say uh nothing wrong with staner Lon airports just want to make that clear um is that Stella has been very good with his drivers yeah um in Lando’s qualifying wobbles and Oscar’s

First full SE first year Stella has been great with his drivers and I think that’s important as well yeah they’ve performed exceptionally well particularly Oscar pastra in a rookie season what what an incredible rookie season he’s had all right so scores for Stella uh Ted you gave him 31 34 cof you

Gave him 34 and I gave him 31 uh as well so there we go all right let’s let’s move on we’ve got three left there for he’s right up there yeah yeah yeah he certainly is let’s move on to Ferrari and Fred verer now I thought one of the

Most interesting parts of uh Fred V’s season was in Las Vegas When a drain cover ripped through the floor of caros SS’s car and for me I don’t know what you thought I felt like it was a bit of a coming of age is the wrong expression

But uh kind of arrival of Fred in a in an aggressive way because he really stood up for Ferrari I thought thought at that point he wasn’t having it he was furious with with F1 with the fa that this had happened and that ultimately his car his driver were going to be

Impacted negatively as a result of that and I thought in the press conference he’s obviously since been fine for for those comments and and for the use of language but he was absolutely sething wasn’t he and maybe it was a change from the sort of happy go-lucky jovial Fred

Verer that we’re maybe slightly used to seeing I thought he really arrived as a as a ferocious and fierce team principle when it mattered most I think in the glare of the spotlight yes you’re absolutely right but he’d already been very much fighting Ferrari’s cuse behind

The scenes at various times and uh and using the Ferrari muscle uh for the the best use of of his team you know behind the scenes during the course of the year but you’re right we we’ saw we saw angry Fred we’ve actually seen I think in

Recent races more happy Fred as well I think he was a little bit Cy at the start as as probably befits a a man thrust into the glare of the spotlight that is the Ferrari team principal I think he’s done he’s done a a decent job for Ferrari this year they

Are the only team other than Red Bull to win a race so we shouldn’t forget that and Singapore was was a super weekend um for for Fred and for Carlos sints maybe we expected a bit more but it has been such a dominant season from Red Bull that that no one was really

Getting that close unless Red Bull had a had a bad weekend and that was the bad weekend they had um the one thing I think Fred hasn’t done to our knowledge yet is to tie down both sh Clair and Carlos SS if indeed they are the future for Ferrari and get

That contract signed they’ve only got another year to go I don’t think they would want to lose either necessarily um and whilst we hear these reports nothing’s coming from Marinello to say yes these are our drivers and you would have thought that might have happened by now if those deals had have

Been done and um they just lost out on the runner’s up spot he has lost you know um he’s lost David Sanchez hasn’t he to uh to McLaren uh members of of of the team have have gone Lauren mechis obviously to Alpha T but I think he’s certainly in the case

Of Lauren mechis um he’s he’s got a very good uh sporting director uh Diego lerno to come in and he’s just feeling his way into the job strategy has been better but engineering and the engine still need work for historical accuracy Matthew can I uh say that it was a water valve cover

Was it I beg you not a drain in the defense of drains everywhere it was the water valve cover and I’d like to formally apologize Fred V in in the spirit of the Season uh Fred Vasser and Toto wolf were just warned not find for their expletives thank uh in the Las

Vegas press conference but yeah I mean let’s go through this I’ve given Fred vaser actually funnily enough I’ve given him 10 out of 10 top team boss first for the media and sponsorship because he’s always been on hand to explain what’s going on with Ferrari even in those

Horrendous days when it looked like they were tripping over their taals again in the way that they did sometimes last year but have been better on that and explaining uh why they haven’t been quite as good uh last year I’ve only put him sixth in the HR because I don’t see

That he’s able do you remember they have the big Ferrari recruitment Drive yeah um midseason and it’s still going on and I haven’t seen or heard many many more people who are coming to Ferrari uh to replace some of the ones you’ve lost that you mentioned cofty so that’s he’s

Only sixth out of 10 on the HR in terms of getting people in he’s third out of 10 for me in technical performance that car was not great but uh not as good as the one before it but he has identified in which areas they need to improve and

He knows what the drivers want and he knows what’s important because he is a racer as well and in leadership I’ve actually put Vasa uh second as well because I think he stood up not only at that Las Vegas event but others and uh defended uh Ferrari and is getting liked

More and more by the toosi who weren’t sure about him first of all they thought some of his um methods of coping by using humor and smiling maybe wasn’t taking the for job of Ferrari team team principal seriously they’ve been disavowed of that in the biggest possible terms there there’s no one

Under any doubt now that Fred vaser takes to that job of Ferrar team principal absolutely seriously and the fact that he didn’t speak Italian had a had a something to go by it but he is learning in that way as well so yeah I think overall he’s second or probably

Third for me I have 32 points out of 40 for Fred verer Ted for verer you have 30 sorry 30 points can’t even add up now he’s third yeah he’s third for me y yeah 30 uh 30 for for for for uted and I gave him

29 uh the hard task master that I am right final two that we’ve got is Toto wolf and Christian heret so obviously in Championship order uh we we we start with Toto wolf finished as second in the championship cofy on the face of it a simple straightforward season or was it

It wasn’t was it it was Toto wolf it was up and down let’s uh to say the least it wasn’t I think we’ve seen uh a different side of Toto wolf this year to to the Toto wolf we’ve seen in previous years because for the second year running they

Haven’t really been winning much um they Haven won at all one when in the year before they it I don’t know what the reasoning was behind the scenes going into this season but something stopped Mercedes approaching a different concept something stopped Mercedes doing what was glaringly obvious and that was

Getting rid of the concept they had to go down a different path and they started the season Once Again with a car that was not befitting of where they wanted to be now fair play to Toto wolf he has made Moves behind the scenes to address the problem all the problems

They have gone now in a different direction he has signed both of his drivers up to new contracts which I think was a massive plus Point uh this year uh for Mercedes and they did finish second but without that driver lineup without Lewis Hamilton and George Russell one of the

Strongest if not the strongest driver lineups on the grid as a partnership would they have finished second no I don’t think they would was that a car that deserved to finish second probably not no is it the Mercedes we’ve seen in the past definitely not no what can Toto

Wolf do to drag Mercedes back to their Glory Days because that is the task that Now lies ahead of him Ted what about his no blame culture how does that fit into your uh into your rankings after a season like we’ve just had I think pretty good but I think you know you

Know a lot of these teams have no blame cultures I don’t think Fred verer particularly has a no blame culture now you know you will identify areas that you need to sort out and you will sort them out with great strength and Leadership and funny enough talking about leadership that’s the only

Category where I’ve put Toto top of the list in leadership in in Direction in um inspiring the team which I think still think he is the best leader watching him from the outside they would people at Mercedes would jump off a cliff with too wolf wouldn’t they they would go into

Battle with him um he just instills that uh that leadership and that maybe that’s hangover from the seven drivers and eight World Constructors championships you know of the past but I I still have him as leadership because he keeps the drivers happy he keeps the sponsors some amazing sponsors on that Mercedes team

Yes it helps being a part of an oem a manufacturer of course with a media and sponsorship up at Toto third um with uh the HR I’ve put him fourth uh because of some of the the details with Mike Elliot and James Allison which we’ll talk about in a

Second and Technical performance I’ve put him where the car is with second but uh yeah you know the thing was with with me about Toto the only thing I’ve Mark him down on was his keenness to throw throw the concept away so publicly after first after qualifying in

Bahrain for whatever reason cofy and we don’t really know why he managed to sign off while he did sign off on the sister of the the the bad car which is as leis Hamilton described it w14 was the sister of W3 and they were both not great cars

Toto must have signed it off otherwise you know he he could have said he could have as a leader and strong leadership he could have said I disagree let’s go with the Red Bull concept but whatever reason they didn’t he signed it off and then for that very first I remember the

Interview vividly coming out so strongly and kind of took me back when he said it he said this car is we it’s bad we’re we’re calling it a start this was after qualifying the first race wasn’t it it wasn’t even after the race I know he’s right but but but but to immediately

Throw the whole concept in the trash can then was the only way that I’m I’m slightly thinking that it wasn’t quite the calm assured Toto leadership that we’ve seen but but I don’t think we saw the calm assured Toto leadership at all times last year and I think if you’re talking

Leadership was his leadership Proactive or reactive was he reacting more to situations than proactive guiding the destiny of his own team and and the decision not to get rid of the sister long before it came onto the track meant that in the early stages a lot of it was

Very rea active the little technical sh Shuffle around was reactive and one of the I think strengths of Mercedes since 2014 has been they’re not following a trend they they’re plowing their own forrow for others to follow and that is not the case at the moment it seems from the

Outside I think that’s fair comment yep it’s going to be a very different car next year I think I think we look forward to testing and seeing seeing how far it’s come do we get into the James Alis and mikee Elliot thing um he saw that that he made them agree between

Themselves he as far as the public was concern Public Image was concerned it was all Mike Elliott’s uh idea to step back as technical director then go to Chief technical officer and then go to uh to Fields New pastures new um with that all resolved uh James Allison

Really will you know Step Up you’d expect him to step up and I think Toto’s probably learned a a lot from these uh two unsuccessful Seasons you know one win in two seasons um and he’s probably will learned a lot from that but you know he’s got his failings Toto wolf and

Maybe not being reactive uh is one of them but you know you’ve got to say that he’s got his strengths and you know the recent the recent issues let’s say with uh with with the FIA has shown that Toto is not afraid afraid to fight for

Himself him his family and for his team and and so he should and as a team owner as well maybe has a slightly longer term view on performance and where Mercedes are going than maybe if if if he wasn’t a team owner okay let’s uh oh let’s go

Through our scores so um Ted you gave him 32 points uh crofty you gave him 32 points as well and I gave him uh 27 wow okay it’s a running theme here you can make a you can make a very good point that that that Toto should be either

Second or third or fourth you could make a good argument for either of those positions yeah I I went very low on technical performance with well it’s fine that’s fair that’s fair absolutely Fair yeah a long a long way off Red Bull all right final final one and we all

Agree according to our our numbers that is the the best team principle of 2023 and that’s that’s Christian herner obviously after the record-breaking season that they had um where where where to begin really I think you can’t we’ve all gone 10 for technical performance because I think with a car

That won every race but one you have to say that that is the best technical achievement possibly ever in the sport in terms of that car and and surely I mean that’s that’s as far that’s as good as it gets if they’d won Singapore I didn’t mean is it 9.9 maybe if they’d

Won Singapore we would have we give them it was the standout car and Christian hoer is not designing that car but he is enabling the design team the arrow team the Gass team to you know the engine team to to run their business with you know management but not micromanagement and empowering and

Enabling people to do their jobs and you have to give them a 10 out of 10 because they they they’ve won everything at a caner so you know you can’t really mark them down at all um leadership overall direction of the team you know

Once a Upon a Time and and not that long ago we’re all sat here going Co Red Bull Red Bull going to have trouble aren’t they they got an engine for the future you know who’s going to power who’s going to power their engine what are

They going to do look at the way you know Christian Herer saw a long-term vision for Honda and then for their own power train you know so that you know they are now a Works team and a Works team of their own engine and that will

Continue on you know even when Ford come in in 2026 he’s brought Ford back into Formula 1 and that happened uh this year as well yeah um he has a big blue chip companies sponsoring them um I’ve seen Christian the way he interacts with the partners and the sponsors and he’s an

Inspiring figure uh for them he really is um I’ve seen the way he interacts with W with the with the crew at the track and back at the factory and he’s a guy that you can go and and talk to whoever you are you can go and have a

Chat with Christian herner he talks to the media as if we’re all old friends and quite frankly we are cuz we’ve known him for forever and ever you know he’s a racer and whatever what whatever people from the outside think about Christian horer and I know he kind of divides

Opinion sometimes and probably Abu dhab 2021 you know is part and parcel of that but there is no better team principle for the team that is Red Bull than Christian hoer they the two FIT absolutely perfectly and he has turned them from you know what was a a bit of a

You know half decent outfit in Milton kees to world leaders and you know should be applauded for that I don’t think he always gets everything right I I I think that he probably still has problems behind the scenes and dealing with the drivers is probably his biggest problem um not necessarily as characters

But the people behind the drivers and trying to keep everybody happy which is a nice problem to have when you’ve got the winning car but you know he he is absolutely the right person for Red Bull and you’ve got to hand it to him in what he has developed and and the culture

He’s developed at Milton kees yeah is so I think we’ve all gone High HR is the one that we’ve we’ve gone a bit lower Ted you’ve gone sixth yeah crofty seven I’ve gone seven is is that what cof was saying there Ted that that perhaps for example managing Sergio Perez and

Managing his season could there have been other things that Christian could have done to to smooth that process over well possibly but it’s a bit complicated where it comes to you know who’s around and above Christian hoer at Red Bull but going back technical performance uh just

Briefly you know we have to say Adrian Nei Pierre vashet all of those people um some of them you know not so well known uh to the public uh who created rb19 off the back of a very successful rb18 you know hat off to all of them incredible car technical performance cannot be

Beaten and I think the only way um you could mark down Christian Horner this year is for the way that the Sergio Perez situation dealt was dealt with and the way that he was not able um to control helmet Marco now helmet Marco you know is uncontrollable he’s an

Uncontrollable Force um but you know Marco’s unacceptable comments about Sergio Perez uh were were not very quickly jumped on because you know he can’t and in in a way this is the genius of of what her has managed to achieve at Red Bull Racing because you know say

What you want about Christian Herer but he is juggling some situations some hot stones that you have got no idea how difficult they are he is juggling um uh some component and volatile Parts Max fappen who can be shown that when the car isn’t to his liking is very vocal

About it and can have a short fuse on the radio with GP as engineer we know that when things aren’t going around he’s juggling helmet Marco who is the definition of a loose cannon he’s juggling Oliver minl his new boss at Red Bull Racing who is finding his way in

Charge of the racing program since the passing as we said earlier uh as Dietrich match shits he’s juggling czecho Perez and and getting czecho back into what they want to do and he’s juggling the sort of you know everything else the political side uh of Formula 1

So he is doing an amazing job Christian H is doing an amazing job considering the amount he has got to deal with and then the HR thing I just marked him down because because of the Marco comments on on S on on czecho Perez and you know

What it it boiled down to I remember saying this on Notebook Matt and crofty at the end it’s like Sergio Perez you know once they dealt with those comments from Marco could Perez not say to go to to helmet okay we’ve dealt with that I’ve forgiven you can you stop being so

Mean to me now and that’s what it came down to me you know and if you if I’m sure if Christian could do this year again he’d say to Helmer or maybe he’d say to himself do you know what I think we can give czecho

A bit of a break here we don’t need to be mean to him it’s not the it’s not the stick he doesn’t respond to what else the stick let’s give him a bit more of the carrot and that’s the only way that I marked him down but clearly he’s still

You know the the team boss of the year no no question see I think that’s where I would slightly disagree he’s not team boss of the year if you’re looking at the helmet Marco situation and marking him down because what Christian tried to do behind the scenes was very much the right

Thing but he didn’t have the power to say to the brand and overturn what the brand wanted in terms of putting out statements when a statement needed to be coming from the team straight away and at that stage Christian had his hands tied a little bit um yeah but statements

Schats I mean you know yeah but he heed tell stop being so mean to check out yeah but yeah you can you we could all say that and should say that however hel it’s not going to listen what Christian wanted to do was put a statement out

Straight away because he wanted to show the support to Sergio because that was the right thing to do and the only right thing to do but as far as I understand it the Red Bull brand didn’t want to do that don’t forget helmet Marco technically is not an employee

Of Red Bull Racing he works for Red Bull apparently M they’re two different things they are but um and and look Christian said this to me once I went yeah but the trouble is he stood at the back of your garage and and he’s got a

Red Bull jacket on and he looks like he’s part of the team so no that’s not going to wash with anybody but sometimes you know Christian hasn’t quite got the authority on a very very senior level with a brand that you would expect or he would hope to have to solve a situation

Very quickly and that I think played out in and around Singapore when eventually the statement from helmet did come a few days too late the only way Matt I would Mark and I I trailed this at the beginning so I should probably deliver on what I was saying the only thing I

Would also Mark Christian Horner down is for his increasing enthusiasm for Instagram like in the form of James vows that you’re saying he loves a celebrity photo at the front of the grid doesn’t he Christian loves it but my favorite one was when Shaquille O’Neal came was delayed do you remember Martin’s

Gridwalk was live on it and Martin was like okay where’s sha going uh okay he’s going to have his photo taken with Christian horer okay must be a guest of Red Bull I guess that’s why he’s taking photos although Machine Gun Kelly was also taking a picture with with

Christian at the front of the grid and then Shaq comes back and Martin says Shaquille Shaquille one word and he Wass Louis Hamilton baby and hang on if you are a Red Bull if you are a Red Bull guest it’s not it’s not the party can I just say

I’d like to give people a reason for staying to the end of this podcast um that I’m not taking that from uh from my earthw and learned friend here about Christian Herer stalking celebrities because if you remember when Adam Driver came to Austin yeah right he could not

Move for Ted krabit being within about five yards skullking in the shadows as Adam Driver walked about the pad I mean I’m amazed that that brilliant opening we did I’m I’m stunned that you didn’t get into every single shot you were that close to it one time one time every

Celebrity has to have a a picture with Christian horn in front of a Red Bull whether they’re Red Bull guests or not and by the way at Monza he was in the film he was in the Brad Pit shooting film there’s a scene where um I saw them

Shooting it where um uh the guy plays um the Badd in uh killing Eve um Dana Shor off forgot his name briefly um he’s the technical director he came and in the film he came and looked under the Red Bulls diffuser and then Christian horer

Stands in his way and tells him to clear his hook Kim bodia there we go Kim bodia remember yeah so that was uh so Herer is in the film so that was um on the grid in Monza they did that on the real live grid we were standing there I was

Looking at what’s going on you know cars interesting oh they’re shooting a scene of the film oh it’s Kim boder from killing Eve oh Christian horn is telling him to sling his hook all right okay so I think they’ve missed a trick what they should have done was offering the part

Of gter Steiner they should have offered gter Steiner the part of Fred verer Fred verer could have played Mike crack Mike Mike crack could have played Toto wolf James vals could have played Bruno famine Bruno Fon could have played fr’s TOs and we could have carried on with

This just swap it around a bit see how these team principles fared in another uniform all right people want to go and have their Christmas want to have the their second their turkey pie people want to have the the The Leftovers cofy it’s time for dinner time for the

Results later right time for the result for the results finally we’ve done some we’ve done some questionable maths and I think we’ve just about settled on an order with our with our criteria so in last place but for for reasons we’ve justified alesandro aloni bravi in 10th Bruno

Famine in ninth Mike crack in no surprise it’s gone quite quite yeah gone quite low Ted six but carry on y yeah all right okay France toss in seventh yeah g Steiner in sixth which I think is interesting I think you could maybe put I had I had I had G Athan

Crack six but yep carry on yeah yeah okay uh verer in fifth then wolf uh sorry Toto wolf it’s given their full titles in fourth James vals in third position uhhuh Andrea Stella in second position which I think is interesting is is is is an interesting result but I but I think

Fully just fighted and I think after a brilliant season that that that’s fair enough and then Christian Herer in first position fun enough given given master and and pupil I think vows and wolf are probably too close to call in that order yeah yeah yeah yeah and they’re right

Next to each other uh in that order so look very very interesting who would be a team principal well not me for starters it’s been hard enough trying to rat them uh let alone try and do the job uh thankless task for which for which their only recompense is first class

Flights chauffered cars and million pound salaries no I I I digress no I it is a thankless task but do you know what I I bet it is one of the more fun things to do in life leading a Formula 1 team and potentially to Victory um that that

That list I do find fascinating um but I will put the disclaimer in that that James vs is team principal of the Year whatever our math suggests on that forget the M forget everything we’ve just said Jays to principal on that bombshell merry New Year everybody maybe

It’s a thankless task it’s a task that comes with it must be a headache you know you think the driving is actually the fun bit where you get to drive the cars uh and then everybody comes to all the team bosses with all their complaints and their troubles the team

Bosses has to have to fight but you know just going back to the words of the lakes of Sterling Moss they are all Racers and with some of them maybe at the bottom of the uh the list who we we have a great deal of respect for but

Probably aren’t in the job um as a named Team principal uh or are in there only as an interim job we have the utmost respect for all of them because it is a very difficult job and they are all at the end of the today as the Sterling

Would say Racers but so are we and that’s why we thought we’d have this bit of fun just to uh see where we place them but please comment uh as in the in the comments as to where you have the team bosses of the year because of

Course we want to hear uh our viewers and our listeners uh points of view as well 100% I’m sure there will be some polite disagreement uh in the comments below uh right Ted cofy thank you very much that was uh thoroughly enjoyable and uh Merry Christmas and Happy New

Year and to you guys take care