the Christian Horner dilemMa

Sometimes Christian Horner just be running his mouth. Not as much as Helmut Marko but still. 

Last year, Horner came under fire for saying in an interview that young girls are getting into the sport because of the hot drivers.

F1 is bringing in a young generation. It's bringing in a lot of young girls because all these great-looking young drivers (NPR)

While Horner did apologize later for his remarks, this stance is problematic because it essentializes all young female fans of Formula One and what we care about. 

Listen, yes, I do think some of the drivers are hot, but it’s not like I can see how hot they are with their helmets are? 

According to Forbes, viewership of Formula One has gone up. There’s been a 28% increase in the US alone! Viewership of races has gone up. In fact, in 2022, “the season averaged 1.21 million viewers per race across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC.” (ESPN) I was one of those new American fans tuning in!

However, not to be annoying but there is not a man hot enough to make me sit & watch something I don’t want to for 2 hours on my Sundays off. And when I watch qualifying too? And maybe an occasional free practice? Probably the sprint race too. For me, being hot is not enough to make me watch your silly little races each week. It helps, but it’s not enough lol

So what does make me watch them? Here’s a crazy idea: maybe I just enjoy watching Formula One? I love the drama of it. I love the adrenaline rush of it. I love the history. 

One man tied to the recent history & drama of the sport is Christian Horner. Horner running his mouth is entertaining. He’s a smart team principle, and he has led Red Bull to multiple championships. He’s an interesting character in the paddock. It’s fun to watch his live interviews and see how he is portrayed on Drive to Survive.

Here’s my dilemma: Christian Horner is so good for the dramatics of the sport. Sometimes, Christian Horner goes a step too far. 

He’s smart though, because he (or his team) knows when to apologize. But when is he going to just not say harmful things? Or is it just the price we pay for letting a man with a microphone in his face be so messy?