Christian Horner pushed Sky Sports reporter Craig Slater into a pool as he interviewed the Red Bull boss after the Monaco Grand Prix.
The swimming pool on top of the Red Bull motorhome in Monaco has seen many famous faces take a dip in its water over the years. Sky Sports F1 favourite Slater joined that illustrious list after Sunday’s dramatic race.
Wearing a white shirt and trousers, Slater was totally caught off guard as a delighted Horner grabbed him mid-interview and slung him into the water to a chorus of cheers and applause from Red Bull employees. After making an almighty splash, Slater re-emerged above the surface, spat out a bit of water and pointed in Horner’s direction.
With an audience of Red Bull staff watching his every move, Slater played up to the crowd and gave a little backstroke before slowly pulling himself out of the water.
As the cool, calm and collected Scottish reporter clambered back to his feet, he grabbed his microphone and in a gargled voice said: “Today was about going from drys to wets,” riffing on the conditions during the race.
(Image: Sky Sports F1)
Before laughing and pointing at Horner once more, adding: “How dare you, well done.” A delighted Horner patted Slater on the arm and said: “Very good.”
F1 fans loved the hilarious moment and took to the comments section to praise the pair for their good-natured banter. One person wrote: “I love the way Christian doesn’t even help him out!”
Someone else said: “Great sport Craig Slater.” A third person added: “Sorry this is killing me.” As another user joked: “This is straight from the WWE writers.”
Which F1 personality would you most like to shove into a pool? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
(Image: Sky Sports F1)
(Image: Sky Sports F1)
Others referred back to the Miami Grand Prix when Slater took a ‘swim’ in the circuit’s fake marina. “Brilliant! – I love @craigslatersky reporting with a smile and humor- and you clearly improved your backstroke since Miami’s fake Marina! “dry dock” practice seems to have helped,” said one.
While another wrote: “Craig finally got to do the backstroke in some real water.”
The drivers also had to deal with wet conditions during the race as the Monegasque micro-climate played havoc with the afternoon. After a delayed start due to a sudden downpour, Mick Schumacher’s crash on lap 30 saw the red flags brought out and a temporary half brought to proceedings.
When the drivers returned to the circuit, Sergio Perez led from Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. And that’s how it stayed until the end, which came on lap 64 because of time restrictions in F1’s rules.
Verstappen might have only finished third, but he increased his lead at the top of the standings to nine points from Leclerc. Perez closed the gap on the pair of them to six points and 15 points respectively with a 25 point haul, while Sainz remains behind George Russell in the drivers’ table after the Mercedes driver’s fifth-placed finish.