What F1 Teams Know About Sustaining Excellence That Most Firms Miss

What Red Bull Racing teaches us about sustaining high performance—in motorsports and in business.

Wednesday night.

I’m somewhere between Birmingham and Nashville. Enjoying time behind the wheel and knocking out a ton of calls.

I call one of my closest friends and catch up. At the center of our catch up conversation is the days headline.

Christian Horner is out at Red Bull Racing.

Wait—Horner?

The guy who’s been at the helm for two decades.

The guy with 6 Constructors’ and 8 Drivers’ Championships.

Gone.

Just like that.

And as we talked, the conversation moved past the headlines and into something deeper.

Two Championships. One Goal.

In Formula 1, there isn’t just one championship—there are two:

• The Constructors’ Championship: won by the team with the best car.
• The Drivers’ Championship: won by the driver with the most points.

You can’t win the latter without the former.

And you can’t win the former without investing in the latter.

That balance—machine and man, system and talent—is what defines excellence in F1.

And honestly?

It’s what defines excellence in business, too.

Sound familiar?

In the advisory world, I see it every week.

Some firms obsess over process—tight systems, perfect compliance, polished planning.

Others go full-throttle on growth—marketing, sales, prospecting, speed.

Both win… for a while.

But the greats? The truly great firms?

They do both.

They know that a brilliant advisor with a broken chassis goes nowhere.

And a perfect back office without a driver? That’s just an idle engine.

What the Horner exit really says

Elite teams don’t just chase performance.

They chase sustained performance.

They’re willing to rebuild mid-season.

They’re willing to let go of legacy if it means future wins.

Even if it means letting go of the person who built the legacy.

That kind of attrition doesn’t come from failure.

It comes from the weight of expectations.

Here’s the punchline:

Your firm has two championships, too.

• Growth.
• Excellence.

One without the other is just noise.

But together? That’s a podium finish.

Let’s build firms that can do both.

And let’s not be afraid to let go of what got us here—if it’s not what gets us there.

If you’re thinking about what needs to be rebuilt—or rebalanced—this quarter, reply to this email. Let’s talk strategy, systems, and drivers.