Former Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has revealed that he received personal congratulations from the team's majority shareholders and company CEO Oliver Mintzlaff. The recognition followed the Formula 1 squad's milestone first victories utilizing their brand-new, in-house power unit built for the 2026 technical regulations.
The Red Bull Powertrains division was originally established in response to Honda's decision to withdraw from Formula 1 at the conclusion of the 2021 season. What started as a contingency plan to manage those power units ultimately evolved into a fully-fledged independent manufacturer project partnering with Ford for the 2026 rules cycle, proving competitive right out of the gate.
The power unit's potential translated into race-winning form as Max Verstappen delivered dominant victories, sweeping both sprint and main grand prix events to cement the powertrain's status as a formidable contender under the new developmental framework.
Speaking on The Race F1 Podcast, Horner discussed how his foundational contributions to the power unit project were formally acknowledged by top executives, including Mintzlaff, with whom Horner shared a complex professional relationship during his tenure prior to his departure last summer.
"I think the team is the team that I've put together and built and the shareholders, even after the last victory in Singapore and Malaysia, both of them have independently thanked me and made reference to that fact," Horner told The Race. "And Oliver Mintzlaff very graciously called me after the race to thank me for what I've put together and what they've gone on to achieve."
Horner noted that time brings essential perspective, observing that Red Bull operates in a vastly different landscape following the passing of co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, whose visionary risk-taking initially greenlit the bold venture into independent engine manufacturing.
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