Christian Horner has revealed that Red Bull's shareholders and CEO Oliver Mintzlaff personally called him to offer their thanks after Red Bull Powertrains secured its maiden grand prix victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix, held at Sepang.
Max Verstappen took the win in Malaysia, with the result marking the first triumph for the in-house Red Bull Ford Powertrains engine on just its 16th attempt since the unit's debut this season.
The power unit division was set up from scratch in 2021 after Honda announced its withdrawal from Formula 1, forcing Red Bull to build engine manufacturing and machining capability it had never possessed before.
Speaking at the Autosport Business exchange, the former Red Bull team principal reflected on the scale of the project launched five years ago.
"We managed to do it on the chassis side and then the challenge came, could we do it on the engine side?" Horner said, as quoted by Autosport.
"You know, we needed to have an engine after Honda announced their withdrawal in 2020. So we created this start-up company, Red Bull Powertrains, with the same philosophy of attracting the talent, giving people a chance, giving people the opportunity, and then empowering them and encouraging them to push the boundaries.
"I've been super proud to see how that engine has developed and delivered this year."
Christian Horner opens up on 'quite a different' Red Bull CEO conversation
Horner, who departed Red Bull as team principal roughly 15 months before the Bahrain win, disclosed that the reaction from the top of the organisation stood in stark contrast to the call he received when he left his post.
Discussing the call to thank him, Horner explained: "It was an appreciated gesture, seeing that engine and knowing what went into it, you know, the sweat and tears along the way,"
"For all the men and women involved, it was an incredible, incredible achievement. And their 16th attempt to win a grand prix, which is very hard at the best of times.
"I was very grateful to both the shareholders who reached out, and [Red Bull CEO] Oliver Mintzlaff who reached out to thank me as well. It was quite a different call than I had from him 15 months earlier."
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