Red Bull sacked Christian Horner, then rightly credited him for its engine
Christian Horner says Red Bull's shareholders and CEO Oliver Mintzlaff congratulated him after its in-house engine's first wins.
Red Bull sacked Christian Horner, then thanked him for the engine. Horner says Red Bull's majority shareholders and the company's chief executive, Oliver Mintzlaff, congratulated him after the Formula 1 team's first wins with its in-house engine. He told The Race's Edd Straw and Jon Noble that his contribution to the Red Bull Powertrains project had been recognised.
A thank-you from an old rival
Horner was Red Bull's founding team principal and held the dual role of team principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing. He was relieved of his duties after the British Grand Prix in July 2025. Following the death of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz in October 2022, an internal power struggle emerged, effectively between Horner and Mintzlaff, plus Helmut Marko, Red Bull's former motorsport advisor. Horner had a difficult relationship with Mintzlaff while in post. That's what gives the congratulations some weight.
The harebrained idea that won
Horner played an important role in Red Bull Powertrains getting the green light. He now calls setting it up a "harebrained idea". When it was established, he said Mateschitz had shown he was "not afraid of risk", and that "the challenge now is to try and replicate that within the power unit".
Not everyone was convinced. Horner says there were people within Red Bull asking "Why the hell are we doing this?", and he credits Mateschitz and co-owner Chalerm Yoovidhya for backing it anyway.
Red Bull Powertrains partnered with Ford for the 2026 engine. By Horner's count, it won on its 16th attempt. "For that engine to go out and be judged to be the most performant engine in Formula 1 in its debut year and win on its 16th attempt, arguably, I see that as one of my biggest achievements during my time at Red Bull," he said.
He would say that. On this year's wins, though, the claim stands.
The instinct that cut both ways
Horner is open about how it ended. Asked whether he had overplayed his hand in the way he shaped the team, amid perceptions that Red Bull was becoming "Team Horner", he said: "Yeah, and that's what I was told. That's what Helmut told me, at the end." Maybe the same instinct that backed a risky engine programme also cost him the job.
Crediting the call after sacking the man is the grown-up move, and Red Bull got it right. You can push a boss out and still recognise the risk he backed, and the engine is the proof it was worth taking.
The harder question is whether today's Red Bull would sign off a risk like that. Horner's own view is that Red Bull is "just in a different place now" without Mateschitz. If he's right, the engine looks like a bet from an era the company has already moved on from.
