Christian Horner has revealed that Red Bull shareholders called him to celebrate the Red Bull Ford Powertrains engine's maiden Formula 1 victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Horner joined the Milton Keynes-based squad as team principal when the brand acquired the Jaguar outfit ahead of the 2005 season, but was sacked and replaced by Laurent Mekies in July 2025.
Across two decades, Horner led the team to eight drivers' and six constructors' titles and oversaw its transition from engine customer to power unit manufacturer after Honda's exit from F1 at the end of the 2021 season. Red Bull kept using Japanese powertrains until last year, when its own power unit, designed with Ford, debuted in 2026.
The engine claimed its first win at the Malaysian Grand Prix through Max Verstappen, with the Dutchman making it back-to-back wins one week later in Singapore. Speaking at the Autosport Business Exchange in New York, Horner said the team had needed an engine after Honda's withdrawal and had created a start-up, Red Bull Powertrains, built on attracting talent and empowering people to push boundaries. "I've been super proud to see how that engine has developed and delivered this year," he said.
Horner said the call from the leadership, including CEO Oliver Mintzlaff, was appreciated, especially given the sweat and tears behind the engine and the team's 16th attempt to win a grand prix. He contrasted it with the call that led to his dismissal 15 months earlier, which he described as "pretty abrupt and quite brutal." He said the decision followed the death of cofounder Dietrich Mateschitz at the end of 2022, after which the company evolved toward greater control from head office, a change from the autonomy Red Bull Racing had enjoyed. "It wasn't that it was right or wrong, it was just different," he said.
Source: Autosport F1 News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing