红牛股东致电霍纳感谢其F1引擎项目贡献
克里斯蒂安·霍纳透露，红牛福特动力总成引擎在马来西亚取得F1首胜后，红牛股东致电感谢他为该项目所做的贡献。霍纳于2005赛季前加入红牛担任车队领队，2025年7月被解雇，由洛朗·梅基斯接任。
红牛股东致电克里斯蒂安·霍纳，感谢他为F1引擎项目所做的贡献
前车队领队对红牛当前成功的贡献得到了认可
克里斯蒂安·霍纳透露，红牛福特动力总成引擎在马来西亚取得F1首胜后，红牛股东致电感谢他。
霍纳是在红牛收购捷豹车队后、2005赛季前加入这支位于米尔顿凯恩斯的车队担任领队的，但于2025年7月被解雇，由洛朗·梅基斯接任。
在执掌车队的二十年里，霍纳不仅带领车队拿下八个车手总冠军和六个车队总冠军，还在本田于2021赛季末退出F1后，主导了车队从引擎客户向动力单元制造商的转型。
红牛得以继续使用日本动力单元直到去年；其与福特合作设计的自有动力单元于2026年首次亮相。
红牛引擎在马来西亚巴林大奖赛上由马克斯·维斯塔潘拿下首胜，一周后荷兰人在新加坡实现背靠背夺冠。
“我们在底盘方面做到了，随后挑战来了：我们能在引擎方面也做到吗？”霍纳在纽约Autosport Business Exchange的一次会议上说道。
“你知道，在2020年本田宣布退出后，我们必须要有引擎。所以我们创立了这家名为动力总成的初创公司，秉持同样的理念——吸引人才、给人们机会和机遇，并赋能他们、鼓励他们突破边界。”
“能成为今年研发并交付的这款引擎的一部分，我感到无比自豪。”
霍纳的贡献得到了品牌本身的认可，他接到了品牌领导层打来的上述电话。
“看到那台引擎并知道它凝聚了多少心血，你知道，一路上的汗水与泪水，这是一个令人感激的举动，”这位英国人继续说道。
“对所有参与其中的男男女女来说，这是一项令人难以置信、难以置信的成就。即使在最好的时候，赢得一场大奖赛也非常艰难。
“我非常感激两位主动联系我的股东，也感激所有主动联系我、向我表示感谢的男男女女。那通电话与我15个月前接到的那通电话截然不同。”
霍纳指的是导致他被解雇的那通电话，因为在红牛联合创始人迪特里希·马特希茨去世后，他的职位变得越来越岌岌可危。
克里斯蒂安·霍纳，红牛车队领队，与迪特里希·马特希茨，红牛首席执行官兼创始人
霍纳没有得到维斯塔潘阵营的支持，并且正在失去尤维迪亚家族的支持——查勒姆·尤维迪亚是该公司的大股东——但他仍将这一消息描述为“相当突然且相当残酷”。
“我觉得事情正在发生变化，”他补充道。“没有什么会永远保持不变，而且在创始人迪特里希·马特希茨于22年底不幸去世后，公司注定会演变或发生变化。
“迪特里希，他就是红牛，他是所有重大决策背后的力量。而突然间，显然，试图取代这样一个人是不可能的。
“然后显然，随着集团的发展并承担起这一挑战，情况就不同了。有一股力量要将更多控制权收回总部，这与我们在红牛车队所享有的自主权截然不同。
“这基本上与我们原本走的路线不同，而你能感觉到那种变化正在发生。这并不是说它对或错，只是不同而已。”
“所以，不可避免地，事情陷入了僵局。”
英文原文
Red Bull called Christian Horner to thank him for F1 engine project after maiden win
Former team boss’s contribution to Red Bull’s current success has been acknowledged
Christian Horner has revealed Red Bull shareholders called him on the back of the Red Bull Ford Powertrains engine’s maiden Formula 1 victory in Malaysia.
Horner joined the Milton Keynes-based squad as its team principal when the brand acquired the Jaguar outfit ahead of the 2005 season, but was sacked and replaced by Laurent Mekies in July 2025.
Across two decades at the helm of the team, Horner not only led it to eight drivers’ and six constructors’ titles but also oversaw its transition from an engine customer into a power unit manufacturer, following Honda’s exit from F1 at the end of the 2021 season.
Red Bull was able to keep using the Japanese powertrains until last year; its own power unit, designed in collaboration with Ford, debuted in 2026.
The Red Bull engine clinched its first victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, courtesy of Max Verstappen, with the Dutchman making it back-to-back wins one week later in Singapore.
“We managed to do it on the chassis side and then the challenge came, could we do it on the engine side?” Horner related in a conference at Autosport Business Exchange in New York.
“You know, we needed to have an engine after Honda announced their withdrawal in 2020. So we created this start-up company called Powertrains, with the same philosophy of attracting the talent, giving people the chances and giving people the opportunity, and empowering them and encouraging them to push the boundaries.
“I've been super proud to be a part of the engine that was developed and delivered this year.”
Horner’s contribution was acknowledged by the brand itself, as he received the aforementioned phone call from its leaders.
“It was an appreciated gesture, seeing that engine and knowing what went into it, you know, the sweat and tears along the way,” the Briton continued.
“For all the men and women involved, it was an incredible, incredible achievement. To win a grand prix is very hard at the best times.
“I was very grateful to both the shareholders who reached out, and all of the men and women who reached out to thank me as well. It was quite a different call to the one I had 15 months earlier.”
Horner is referring to the phone call that led to his dismissal, as his position had become increasingly precarious following Red Bull cofounder Dietrich Mateschitz’s death.
Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing Team Principal and Dietrich Mateschitz, CEO and Founder of Red Bull
Horner did not have the Verstappen camp on his side and was losing the support of the Yoovidhya family – Chalerm Yoovidhya is a majority owner of the company – but still describes the news as “pretty abrupt and quite brutal”.
“I felt that things were changing,” he added. “Nothing stays the same forever, and after the founder Dietrich Mateschitz sadly passed at the end of ‘22, it was always going to be the case that the company was going to evolve or was going to change.
“Dietrich, he was Red Bull, he was the power behind all big decisions. And suddenly, obviously, trying to replace somebody like that, it’s impossible.
“And then obviously, as the group evolved and took on that challenge, it was just different. There was a drive to bring more control back into the head office and that sat differently from the autonomy that we'd enjoyed at Red Bull Racing.
“It was a different path than essentially what we were on, and you could feel that that was changing. It wasn't that it was right or wrong, it was just different.
“So, inevitably, it came to a deadlock.”
Motorsport.com ·
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