Christian Horner regrets missing the chance to work with Piastri

• The Australian won the 2020 Formula Three.
• And 2021 Formula Two championships.
• For his father’s Arden team.

Christian Horner expressed remorse for not being able to recruit Oscar Piastri, an Australian who was attempting to get into the Formula One.

After a contract dispute with Renault-owned Alpine, the highly regarded 21-year-old has agreed to compete for McLaren beginning with the 2019 season.

The winner of the 2020 Formula Three and 2021 Formula Two championships competed in Formula Renault and Formula Four for the Horner and his father-founded Arden team.

“There was an opportunity for Red Bull to look at him at the time and we didn’t take up that option, which is something that I regret,” Horner told Formula One’s Beyond the Grid podcast released on Wednesday.

Next year, Lando Norris, a driver Horner stated he rated very highly, will be Piastri’s McLaren teammate.

“The only problem he (Piastri) now has to deal with is (that) the expectation on him will be immense,” said Horner. “He’s going to have to get in and deliver against Lando, which is no mean feat.

“But you either sink or swim in this business. He’s a very, very capable driver, I’m sure he’s going to do very well.”

Red Bull has won 12 of the 16 races so far this season, but Horner questioned whether his team was beginning a new age of dominance similar to the one it experienced from 2010 to 2013.

Max Verstappen is expected to win his second consecutive drivers’ title for Red Bull, maybe as early as Singapore the next week. Red Bull is on track to win both championships.

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“If we manage to pull off these back-to-back championships, which hopefully we can do with Max, and if we are able to for the first time in eight years be the only team to beat Mercedes to the constructors’ championship, that’s an enormous feat,” said Horner.

“Now, the quality of our competitors is such that I cannot see a period of domination like we’ve just endured… I’m sure the others are going to come back fighting very, very hard next year but only time will tell.”

With six races left, Red Bull leads Ferrari by 139 points in the standings, and Verstappen is 116 points ahead of Charles Leclerc of Ferrari.

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