Christian Horner has extended his contract with Red Bull, thereby committing the Briton to the Austrian team until 2026.

The Briton has been with the team from the outset, though Dietrich Mateschitz had desperately wanted former racer and BMW boss, Gerhard Berger for the role.

Guiding the team through the embarrassing days of the Formula Unas, towards the end of the team's first season Horner pulled off the masterstroke of luring Adrian Newey away from McLaren.

Between 2010 and 2013, Red Bull won successive titles with Sebastian Vettel, having already given Jenson Button and Brawn a late scare in 2009.

Particularly hit by Renault's failure to get it right as the hybrid era got underway, Red Bull eventually made the brave decision to switch to Honda, despite the Japanese manufacturer's disastrous return to the sport with McLaren.

While the debate over the final destination of this year's title still rages, there is no doubting that Christian Horner has assembled a formidable team, now about to go down the route of power unit production also.

Speaking to Servus TV, Helmut Marko confirmed that Horner has extended his contract.

"Christian is the team principal, he is in the public eye and I am more in the background," said the Austrian.

"But we coordinate things quite well," he continued, "we set the direction of the team, and also of our staff.

"In political issues we usually speak the same language, and I believe our success proves us right."

Referring to the decision to appoint Horner to the role in January 2005, just eight weeks before the team's debut, Marko admits: "Dietrich Mateschitz said, 'Christian who?' in the beginning as Christian had zero experience in Formula 1.

"But I already knew him from Formula 3000 and other junior categories and I knew about his ambitions and skills. Now that has developed into something great.

"He is a charismatic team boss who, by the way, even before you, was in the process of extending his contract until 2026," he added, pointing to fellow guest, world champion Max Verstappen.

"Within the whole team, or at least the top positions, we want to have stability for the transition years coming up, when the new engine regulations come in and when the new chassis regulations come in, so that we have a solid team for that."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 24/12/2021 8:18

"@ Defiant...Yes, the choice is not what one would call the greatest but the decision for me is quite easy....Horner is a 'can do ' guy and he'd be far more fun anyway. Wolffie would not be interested in climbing any palms looking for coconuts and he would expect someone else to 'go get 'em'. If there was a choice you could do worse than pick Andreas Seidl who I, at first look, thought that he'd be just a rather subdued Germanic kinda dude but seeing him go over the top with the celebrations held for Daniel's first win for McLaren at Monza convinced me that he's a very excitable guy when he lets go and combined with his super intelligence would be great companion. hahaha Happy Xmas."

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2. Posted by Defiant, 24/12/2021 1:45

"@kenji, out of those two, I think it'd have to be Christian but in all honesty I think it'd still be utter torture. I'd rather have to hang out with someone like Jost Capito."

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3. Posted by kenji, 23/12/2021 10:36

"I think that it would be interesting to know the opinions of posters when posed with the question....Which team principal would you choose to be shipwrecked on an island with and why ...Horner or Wolff? C'mon chaps, it'd be a bit of fun."

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4. Posted by equator180, 23/12/2021 7:00

"The best F1 team principal of the group bar none..."

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5. Posted by KKK, 22/12/2021 21:54

"I may sound cynical, but maybe RB was making sure he wasnt going to join Mercedes......now thats a story !"

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6. Posted by Defiant, 22/12/2021 19:59

"it's a no brainer really. As annoying as he is, he has been a leader at RB. "

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7. Posted by trackrecords, 22/12/2021 18:32

"Why would he not sign-up for another session? What would he do instead, go back to F2? I thought he was the team - it wouldn't be the same without his whining and whining..."

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Horner extends contract with Red Bull

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