Sacked Red Bull boss Horner reveals shareholders called to thank him after engine's maiden F1 win

Christian Horner has revealed that Red Bull shareholders called him to express gratitude for his role in the team’s engine programme, weeks after he was sacked as team principal — a gesture he described as “quite a different call to the one I had 15 months earlier”.

Horner, who was dismissed and replaced by Laurent Mekies in July 2025, oversaw the creation of Red Bull Powertrains following Honda’s withdrawal from Formula 1 at the end of the 2021 season. The in-house power unit, developed in partnership with Ford, debuted in 2026 and claimed its maiden victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix courtesy of Max Verstappen, who then made it back-to-back wins in Singapore the following week.

Speaking at the Autosport Business Exchange conference in New York, Horner reflected on the scale of the undertaking. “We managed to do it on the chassis side and then the challenge came, could we do it on the engine side?” he said. “We needed to have an engine after Honda announced their withdrawal in 2020. So we created this start-up company called Powertrains, with the same philosophy of attracting the talent, giving people the chances and empowering them to push the boundaries.”

Horner said the phone call from the brand’s shareholders carried particular weight given the circumstances of his exit. “It was an appreciated gesture, seeing that engine and knowing what went into it — the sweat and tears along the way,” he said. “For all the men and women involved, it was an incredible, incredible achievement. To win a grand prix is very hard at the best times. I was very grateful to both the shareholders who reached out, and all of the men and women who reached out to thank me as well.”

Horner joined Red Bull when the brand acquired the Jaguar outfit ahead of the 2005 season and spent two decades as team principal, guiding the squad to eight drivers’ and six constructors’ championships. His position grew increasingly precarious following the death of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, with the Verstappen camp and the Yoovidhya family — whose patriarch Chalerm Yoovidhya holds a majority stake in the company — withdrawing their support.

He described learning of his dismissal as “pretty abrupt and quite brutal”, adding: “I felt that things were changing.” The contrast between that conversation and the recent call of appreciation was not lost on him.