Christian Horner claims Red Bull was “very brave and pretty ballsy” to cut ties with Honda and start producing powerunits

Red Bull has amassed immense success in its partnership with Honda over the years.

Christian Horner claims Red Bull was “very brave and pretty ballsy” to cut ties with Honda and start producing powerunits

Christian Horner (Via IMAGO)

Red Bull’s partnership with the Japanese company Honda, has been one of the most successful partnerships in F1. The companies have together made dominant cars and engines and have won three successive championships courtesy of Max Verstappen.

But, an announcement was made a few months ago that the Milton-Keynes-based team and Honda will be partying ways in 2026 when the new F1 regulations begin. Following this, Red Bull has decided it will produce its own engines, partnering with Ford, which is something new for the team. This decision is quite “brave and ballsy” according to team principal, Christian Horner.

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Red Bull will partner with Ford from 2026 whereas Honda will power Aston Martin.

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And we've taken on a new project with the engine. We've got some exceptional people, we’ve got an incredible facility, and yeah, for sure, it's very bold, what we've done, and it's very brave and it's pretty ballsy.
Christian Horner said via racingnews365

Horner also added how such bold decisions are the only reason why Red Bull has become one of the most dominant and successful teams in F1. As mentioned earlier, Honda is set to join Aston Martin in 2026, so it will definitely be interesting to see which team will have the better engine when the new regulations kick in.

Adrian Newey might be leaving Red Bull due to “personal issues” with Christian Horner

Adrian Newey has been working with Red Bull ever since 2006. The designer has been a key reason for Red Bull’s success in F1 in such a short period of time. Recently, there’s been rumors about a possible exit from the 65-year-old.

Adrian Newey and Christian Horner
Adrian Newey and Christian Horner (Via: Imago)

According to F1 pundit Mark Hughes, the Briton wants to leave the Milton-Keyenes-based team due to personal issues, and conflicts with Christian Horner. This is probably due to all the internal turbulence going on within Red Bull following Horner’s misconduct accusations.

It’s not as if Newey would be departing because of a general malaise within the team, either; this is very much a personal issue based around the Christian Horner controversy regarding the employee who served as PA to both Horner and Newey.
Mark Hughes via TheRace

Hughes reveals how the employee who accused Horner was a personal assistant to both Newey and him. The entire Christian Horner saga just seems to be getting more harmful to the team. With rumors about Aston Martin offering the aero-genius a massive deal, only time will tell where the 65-year-old’s future lies going ahead.

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