Christian Horner: "With the cash prize of my victory in Monaco, I bought a TAG Heuer Monza!"

Christian Horner is a man in high demand, very busy and therefore very much in a hurry.

Capturing it for even a few minutes on the eve of a Formula 1 Grand Prix is ​​in principle quite a feat.

But with a constructors' title for the Oracle Red Bull Racing team, and a second world championship crown already won by Max Verstappen, the atmosphere at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was necessarily a little more relaxed. than usual in Formula 1, a performance and demanding sport if ever there was one.

On the wrist of Christian Horner, enthusiasts could already notice a watch that in fact did not exist, or rather did not yet exist: the TAG Heuer Monza, Chronomètre Flyback Skeleton, the first of its kind, which Frédéric Arnault, at the head of the mark, had entrusted to him.

A quarter of an hour flat, and five questions at full speed,

Read also TAG Heuer reinterprets its Monza in carbon and skeletonized version

Christian Horner, during the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Judikael Hirel / Le Figaro

What is your definition of ideal free time?

Christian Horner:

What is most precious to me is the time spent with my family.

I have a young child, it is an essential time.

Children grow up so fast, it's good not to travel too much during the winter, after the end of the season.

To try to be there at least on weekends, even if there is always a lot of work with the team.

What did you know about TAG Heuer before the brand became your partner?

For me, this has always rhymed with beautiful chronographs.

I already followed Formula 1 when I was a child, I saw Ayron Senna with this TAG Heuer logo.

For me, the brand has always been synonymous with Formula 1. You longed to own one of its watches.

And the first time I bought an inexpensive watch was a TAG Heuer.

I had won a race in Monaco in what is now Formula 2 but was then called Formula 3000. And Bernie Ecclestone gave me a cash prize!

I said to myself “

I wanted to treat myself to something to commemorate this victory.

So, at Nice airport, I bought myself a TAG Heuer Monza as a souvenir.

And it's funny, because a few weeks ago Frédéric Arnault gave me the new Monza.

But I still have the one I bought myself, it means a lot to me.

Read alsoMax Verstappen: "Without a watch, my wrist feels empty"

Christian Horner and Max Verstappen.

BRYN LENNON/AFP

What would be your definition of a good watch?

Something reliable and versatile, practical you can count on, adaptable and precise.

It must offer the best between function and style.

Over the course of my career, I have held various positions in different universes, and crossed time zones.

I think a good watch should really be versatile.

The best moment of your professional life?

I would say Abu Dhabi… but in 2010!

When we won the first world championship title with Sebastian Vettel, against all odds.

It's always very important the first time.

After, the season we had last year in Abu Dhabi, it will also have been a hell of a fight.

It would have been an incredible moment.

On the film side, are you more Drive, with Ryan Gossling, or Ford vs Ferrari, with Matt Damon and Christian Bale?

I would rather say the first!

We find there the desire to win, the competition, the audacity, the passion, and everything that happens behind the doors of the racing stables.