Christian Horner has had the sort of career that makes many of us here at dotdotdotcomma not a little jealous, although we could live without the jumping into swimming pools in nothing but a Superman cape, thanks very much.

As a driver, his prowess in single-seaters got him as far as F3000, having founded the Arden team in the process. He spent a couple of years as driver/owner, before deciding that he was a better manager than a racer and hanging up his helmet, a painful practice that is illegal in all but the world's most liberal countries.

After retiring from the cockpit, Horner took just four years to deliver his team's first driver's championship, although Tomás Enge's title celebrations lasted only until the results of his drugs test came through. The title was instead awarded to second-placed Sebastien Bourdais, who since that slice of luck has been the relentlessly cheerful soul we know today.

After this set-back, Horner regrouped and led the team to a number of drivers' and constructors' titles, before being poached by Red Bull to lead their F1 challenge at a startlingly tender age. Some may have baulked at the appointment to team principal of a man of so few years but no one was complaining about his youth when Horner made his leap into the previously mentioned swimming pool with not much on. It could have been the Renault team principal who'd lost that bet and we've all seen the pictures of Flavio Briatore wobbling about on beaches.

There is no doubt that Horner knows what he's doing and for all we know he's also wise and fascinating when interviewed on TV but it's impossible to concentrate on what he's saying once you've realised that every fifth word he comes out with is "y'know".

Horner has one son, John, who's commonly known as Little Jack and who has a tendency to sit in corners.