Christian Horner was sacked just six months before Red Bull ran its first-ever works power unit for the 2026 Formula 1 season.
The Milton Keynes-based team showed Horner the exit doors after a lacklustre second half of the 2024 season spilt over into 2025.
The Briton’s last race in charge of Red Bull came at the British Grand Prix last July, which saw Max Verstappen finish a frustrating fifth, followed by Yuki Tsunoda a lap down on the leaders.
But this decision to oust him as the Team Principal and CEO came just six months before Red Bull debuted its maiden works power unit, developed in collaboration with Ford, for the 2026 season, in January.
Horner had been an integral part of Red Bull’s power unit programme, the roots of which were laid down all the way back in 2021.
This, Horner revealed, left him feeling “hurt and robbed” as he wasn’t able to witness the fruits of his labour come good out on track.
“When I started at Red Bull, there were under 400 people. When I left, there were 2,200,” he told The Guardian.
“I poured my heart and soul into that business and convinced people to leave other teams for Red Bull. I never had a big turnover in staff because there was tremendous loyalty over a long period.
“The startup engine business had been founded in 2021, and I was about to get it on the track when I left. I felt great sadness at not seeing that engine in a car.
“Nobody could take away the 124 wins and 14 championships, but I felt particularly hurt and robbed that I didn’t have the opportunity to see that [Red Bull-manufactured] Powertrains engine win.”
Christian Horner was “proud” to see Red Bull’s first works F1 win
After a torrid start to F1’s latest era, Red Bull and Verstappen’s first win of the season came at Sepang earlier this month.
It also marked the DM-01 (named after late Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz) engine’s first F1 win.
And despite the surrounding animosity of his abrupt exit, Horner said he was “proud” to see the team deliver this milestone.
“I felt very proud seeing what it meant to everybody and that they sent the Powertrains representative onto the podium,” Horner added.
“I had messages throughout the team, and I texted Max after the race. He was very magnanimous, and it was a landmark moment to see that engine win.
“It reinforced to me that, if you assemble the right people with the right culture and the necessary tools, anything is possible.
“Red Bull has been the maverick team. It’s pushed the boundaries. Only Red Bull would do something crazy enough to build a new engine as a subsidiary of a fizzy drinks manufacturer.
“Its mantra was to be nonconformist, to be a disruptor. It’s a little different now.”
Verstappen backed his Sepang win by taking his maiden win on the streets of Singapore last weekend, making it back-to-back wins for the RBPT-Ford-powered RB22.
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