Sports · Motorsport · 2 hrs ago
Red Bull shareholders thanked Horner after its new F1 engine won
Red Bull shareholders called Christian Horner to thank him after the team’s new engine won its first Formula 1 races.
The engine, developed by Red Bull with Ford, powered Max Verstappen to wins in Malaysia and Singapore in 2026.
Red Bull began building its own engine after Honda announced it would leave F1, and the new power unit debuted in 2026.
Horner led Red Bull for about two decades, overseeing the engine project before he was dismissed as team principal in July 2025.
The project was a major gamble because failure could have cost Red Bull its star driver, staff and sponsors.
Its early victories show that the new engine has succeeded in its first season, while Horner says he was grateful for the shareholders’ recognition.
Red Bull Powertrains won races in its first season as a Formula 1 engine maker in 2026.
Max Verstappen secured the engine project’s first victory in Malaysia and won again in Singapore one week later.
Red Bull developed the power unit with Ford after Honda announced its withdrawal from Formula 1 in 2020.
Former team principal Christian Horner helped establish the project and recruit experienced engine staff.
Red Bull shareholders called Horner to thank him after the first victory.
- Who
- Red Bull Powertrains, with Max Verstappen driving the winning car.
- What
- Red Bull’s engine project won races in its first Formula 1 season.
- When
- 2026. The first victory was followed by another one week later.
- Where
- Malaysia and Singapore.
- Why
- Not stated
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Red Bull received approval for the Powertrains project.
Red Bull fired up its first internal combustion engine.
The engine project’s foundations were tested on track for the first time.
Max Verstappen secured the engine’s first victory in Malaysia.
Verstappen won again in Singapore.
- Engine maker
- Red Bull Powertrains
- Engine partner
- Ford
- First victory
- Malaysia, 2026
- Second victory
- Singapore, one week after the first
- Project approval
- February 2021
3 sources
What people are saying
the sort of project that would be refused by every board in the world
Why the hell are we doing this?
A lot of it is to do with the belief that Red Bull has shown in the project, and the fact that they completely committed to trying to compete at that sort of level.
One of the reasons that persuaded me to join was that the size of their ambition was enormous. They weren't planning on just doing the bare minimum to create a power unit.