Christian Horner says Red Bull shareholders called after Malaysia win
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 22, 2026
Red Bull victory
Red Bull Ford Powertrains earned its first Formula 1 victory in Malaysia, with Max Verstappen driving the win. Christian Horner said the result brought calls from Red Bull shareholders, a reaction he took as a clear sign of how much the breakthrough meant inside the company. Verstappen backed it up with another win in Singapore a week later. Horner framed the achievement as more than a strong race weekend. He treated it as evidence of the progress made by Red Bull’s in-house power unit effort. The victory also gave the company something concrete to point to after building an engine program from scratch. Horner said the response from shareholders stood out to him as a meaningful gesture and recognition for the work that went into getting the project to that level. In his view, the race win carried weight well beyond the podium. It represented the significance of a program built from scratch.
Powertrains project
Horner traced the story back to the moment Red Bull decided to create Powertrains after Honda announced its withdrawal. He said the project was built with a start-up mindset, one meant to attract and empower talent. That approach, he said, helped Red Bull create a power unit operation from the ground up rather than stay in the role of an engine customer. He drew a clear line from that decision to the team’s success, saying he was proud of the work that went into the project and proud to have helped guide Red Bull’s transition from customer to manufacturer. The language he used centered on the people behind the effort. Horner called the first victory “an incredible achievement” and said it reflected a major push by the men and women involved in the program. The Malaysia win, in that context, was the payoff for the work behind the project. Horner’s comments emphasized the effort behind the result.
Horner changes
Horner also placed the engine program inside the larger changes that hit Red Bull after Dietrich Mateschitz’s death. He said the structure at the company shifted after Mateschitz died, with more control moving back to head office and the team’s autonomy shrinking. He tied those shifts to the meaning of the shareholders’ call after the Malaysia victory, saying it felt different from the phone call that led to his dismissal as Red Bull team principal. The contrast gave his remarks a personal edge, but he kept returning to the work behind Powertrains and the significance of the result. Horner delivered the comments at the Autosport Business Exchange in New York. His remarks connected one race victory to a broader company story that ran from Honda’s withdrawal to the creation of a new power unit arm and the first success for that effort. Horner’s reflections showed why the moment mattered inside the organization, too. It marked both a technical success and a sign of how Red Bull’s internal power structure had changed around it.
