Max Verstappen’s Bahrain Grand Prix victory at Sepang delivered a result with major symbolic significance for Red Bull. The Dutchman returned to the top step of the podium after almost a year, but behind his victory was another milestone: the first Formula 1 success for the Red Bull-Ford power unit and the return of the Ford name to the front of the championship after decades away.
It was about more than branding. The victory represented the first major confirmation of an idea that only a few years ago could easily have been dismissed as reckless: Christian Horner’s decision to transform Red Bull from an engine customer into a power unit manufacturer capable of challenging Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda and Audi.
Christian Horner’s Red Bull Powertrains gamble reaches its breakthrough
The power unit behind Max Verstappen’s victory comes from a project that resembles Formula 1 from another era. Red Bull Powertrains was not created as the engine division of one of the traditional automotive giants now competing in the championship.
Instead, Red Bull built the operation itself and partnered with Ford on the electrical and technological side of the project. That new organisation was immediately asked to compete against manufacturers with enormous resources and decades of engine-building experience.
At Sepang, it took Max Verstappen to the top step of the podium.
From Porsche talks to Ford partnership
To understand the significance of the achievement, it is necessary to go back to the period when Red Bull suddenly faced the prospect of losing Honda. The Japanese manufacturer had announced its decision to leave Formula 1, apparently leaving Milton Keynes with an obvious solution: find another major manufacturer to supply its engines.
One path led to Porsche. Volkswagen was preparing to enter Formula 1 through two separate projects, with Audi becoming a constructor and Porsche potentially joining Red Bull as a technical partner.
The deal appeared close to completion. Commercial and operational structures had already begun to take shape, but Christian Horner ultimately pushed Red Bull towards a completely different approach.
Red Bull did not want simply to become the team using another manufacturer’s power unit. It wanted to retain its independence and bring in-house something it had always previously bought from an external supplier.
It was an enormous risk. That is precisely why the achievement now carries even greater significance.
Christian Horner helped build Red Bull’s engine division from scratch
Christian Horner played a central role in creating the Milton Keynes engine operation almost from nothing, recruiting expertise from organisations including Mercedes and Honda.
The arrival of numerous technical specialists from Sakura became one of the fundamental pieces of the Red Bull Powertrains project. Ford subsequently joined as its strategic industrial partner, particularly in the electrical side of the power unit and an area in which the American company has significant expertise: battery technology.
The scale of the gamble was substantial. Building a competitive Formula 1 chassis around a power unit supplied by an established manufacturer is one challenge. Deciding to become an engine manufacturer while simultaneously preparing for an entirely new generation of technical regulations is another altogether.
Red Bull engine now challenges Formula 1’s established manufacturers
The outcome is beginning to emerge. Red Bull Powertrains officially made its competitive debut this season and, after the inevitable early difficulties associated with an entirely new programme, has demonstrated a power unit that is fast, strong and reliable.
More importantly, the internal combustion engine has emerged as one of the particularly encouraging elements of the package.
Under the ADUO mechanism, Red Bull’s internal combustion engine was considered competitive enough not to receive any development concessions. That is a significant result when compared with rivals such as Ferrari and Mercedes.
The Mercedes power unit probably remains the overall reference in Formula 1, particularly when the performance of the complete system is considered. However, when focusing specifically on the internal combustion engine, Red Bull appears to have found something extra.
That makes the achievement even more striking. Ferrari and Mercedes have decades of experience, huge facilities and vast resources dedicated to power unit development. Red Bull created its own engine operation in a comparatively short period of time.
Rather than simply purchasing technology, it built expertise, infrastructure and its own internal supply chain.
Max Verstappen victory gives Horner project its defining moment
Max Verstappen’s Bahrain Grand Prix victory is therefore about considerably more than another Red Bull win. It represents the first genuine celebration of a project Christian Horner imagined when taking the conventional route and relying on another established manufacturer would have been far easier.
Christian Horner, now away from the Formula 1 paddock and still searching for his next role, indirectly laid claim to part of that achievement after the race. Through a message published on Instagram, the former Red Bull team principal congratulated the Milton Keynes engine department.
On the surface, it was simply a celebratory message. It was nevertheless difficult not to interpret it as carrying an underlying sense of vindication.
Red Bull Powertrains inevitably carries Christian Horner’s influence
The structure inevitably carries Christian Horner’s fingerprints. He understood that Red Bull did not necessarily need to become a conventional road-car manufacturer in order to compete with Ferrari, Mercedes and Audi.
Instead, Red Bull could create a more agile organisation, recruit the right expertise, make use of knowledge accumulated by people working for established rivals and combine that structure with an industrial partner such as Ford.
What once looked almost visionary has now produced a winning result.
Christian Horner remains without a Formula 1 team, but his future continues to attract attention, including discussion around a possible route back into Formula 1 through Ferrari. The success of a project he helped establish only strengthens the argument that his absence from the paddock may not necessarily last indefinitely.
Building an engine operation virtually from scratch and seeing it defeat manufacturers such as Ferrari, Mercedes, Honda and Audi is not an everyday achievement.
For any team principal, manufacturer or automotive group searching for an executive capable of leaving a lasting mark on an organisation, perhaps identifying the obvious candidate does not require a particularly sophisticated algorithm. It might simply require a telephone — and Christian Horner’s number.
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