New Year Honours for Horner and Dennis

There was special recognition for two members of the world of motorsport this week as King Charles III’s New Year Honours List was released with Red Bull Racing’s Christian Horner and former McLaren boss Ron Dennis both recognised.

Since joining Red Bull in 2005, Horner has overseen the team’s rise into one of the most dominant forces in F1. He picked up his first constructor’s championship in 2010 and added titles in 2011, 2012 and 2013 as Sebastian Vettel reigned for Red Bull. Following this period of success, Horner received an OBE in 2013 and has now been made a CBE after recent constructor’s success in 2022 and 2023 - where Red Bull won all but one of the 23 races.

After previously being awarded a CBE for his contribution to motor racing, former McLaren boss Ron Dennis was given a Knighthood for services to industry and charity, based on his work as Podium Analytics chair and Tommy’s Campaign chairman.

Dennis joined McLaren in the early ‘80s and oversaw a period of tremendous success with the Woking-based team winning seven constructor’s championships and ten driver’s championships during his time there thanks to legendary drivers like Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen and Lewis Hamilton. He eventually stepped away from McLaren in 2017 to focus on business interests.

words: Mike Booth
pictures: Red Bull & McLaren