Editor's Desk: The Red Bull power unit Christian Horner built

But what we need to remember here is the person behind this massive undertaking, and by that, I mean Christian Horner.

Make no mistake, Horner was rightfully fired from Red Bull Racing last year following the British Grand Prix when it really appeared like the team needed a fresh start, which was duly delivered with the hiring of Laurent Mekies, who managed to turn things around.

The Frenchman, however, came in too late to have any significant impact on the power unit project.

However, our topic now is Horner, and while we at GrandPrix247 have not spared him any criticism, even blaming him for Max Verstappen's loss of the 2025 F1 Drivers' Championship, we have to give him credit where credit is due.

We all recall how Honda decided to pull out of F1 after winning their first title with Red Bull Racing in 2021, and while they continued their power unit supply for Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls, Red Bull were caught out by that decision and had to act.

With the support of late Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, Horner took the brave decision to design and build F1 power units and make sure that Red Bull Racing were masters of their own fate by founding Red Bull Powertrains, which later became Red Bull Ford Powertrains as the American automaker decided to join F1.

That was, by any measure, not a mean feat, especially as Red Bull Racing needed to start from scratch. The fact that the first power unit Red Bull Ford Powertrains had to build was according to the new regulations made the challenge even tougher.

But Horner took the bull by the horns, and last week in Barcelona, we saw that he did a good job.

In the buildup to the 2026 F1 season, there were a lot of rumors that Red Bull's engine program was struggling, and the fact that Horner raised the voice regarding the problems of the 2026 power units, after initial simulations, was considered a sign that they were struggling.

But from Day 1 of running in Barcelona, Red Bull managed over 100 laps with their DM01 (named after Mateschitz) bolted to the rear of the RB22. Racing Bulls managed an extra 88.

That was impressive, especially when you see that Audi managed only 27 laps on that day.

Now some may say that Mercedes racked up 500 laps by the end of the test, almost 200 more than what Red Bull Racing managed, but we have to keep in mind that was Mercedes, and nothing less was expected of them.

We also have to keep in mind that Red Bull Racing made the mistake of running on Tuesday in rainy conditions, which meant they couldn't manage a lot of mileage, while Isack Hadjar crashed at the end of that day, which put the team on the back foot as well.

Former F1 driver and respected pundit Martin Brundle claims Red Bull Ford Powertrains have done a decent job.

"They've done really well, haven't they?" he told Sky Sports F1. "I remember Christian Horner took me around the engine factory more than one and a half years ago, and I thought, 'My God, this is unbelievable!'

"The scale of it, the number of people, and the facilities and the dynos they had there, so I'm not that surprised, if I'm honest.

"I know they're new to Formula 1 power units, but they've a lot of good people there, a lot of resources, and it's a great facility," Brundle concluded.

Horner has basically torn Red Bull Racing apart with his sexting scandal and the power struggle that followed the death of Mateschitz.

He, on the other hand, has left Red Bull in a very strong position with regards to the power unit division, and for that he deserves the credit.