Christian Horner ‘surprised’ Red Bull by showing Martin Brundle sensitive engine test

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Christian Horner showed Martin Brundle the first test of Red Bull’s 2026 F1 engine back in 2024, the Sky Sports pundit has revealed.

Red Bull are making their debut as an engine manufacturer this season, a move that they announced back in 2021. They have split with Honda and set up their own Powertrains division.

Horner was sacked before he could see the project through, but arguably deserves some of the credit if the engine performs well. Red Bull’s power unit impressed the entire paddock during F1 testing, demonstrating both elite performance and strong reliability.

Prove me wrong: Red Bull replacing Christian Horner with Laurent Mekies was the best decision they made in 2025

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At one stage, Red Bull were discussing a 50/50 partnership with Porsche, but Horner pulled the plug on those talks and negotiated a technical/commercial tie-up with Ford instead.

Martin Brundle recalls Christian Horner’s tour of Red Bull Powertrains facility

Speaking on the F1 Show, Brundle said Horner ‘surprised’ Red Bull Powertrains staff by inviting him to witness their ‘first high-power run’.

But the pundit is not surprised that the Milton Keynes facility has delivered given the resources at their disposal, both in terms of finances and personnel.

The only question he has is whether the engines will hold up as well as the Mercedes and Ferrari machines over the full season. Each driver is currently allowed four ICEs for the 24-race schedule.

• READ MORE: The FIA have already made an ‘exception’ for Red Bull in the new Formula 1 regulations

“Christian Horner took me round it the best part of two years ago. They were just doing their first high-power run on the kinetic recharge unit. I think they were a bit surprised Christian was dragging a journo in there to have a look at it.

“The facilities they have there, the people they’ve got there, the time they’ve had and the budget, they’ve done a fine job. Having seen what they were doing so long ago, I’m not surprised at all, actually.

“That will play out for the Racing Bulls as well. Will they have the reliability down the road of Mercedes and Ferrari? We’ll find out.”

‘They thought the engine would blow up’ – Max Verstappen responds to rivals’ praise

At one stage during testing, Toto Wolff said Red Bull’s engine was the best in the field. These remarks have been dismissed by Max Verstappen and co. as typical pre-season sandbagging.

Still, Red Bull are clearly more advanced than expected at this stage. Laurent Mekies expected to ‘struggle’ in 2026, but it seems race wins are certainly out of the question.

Verstappen hasn’t been ruled out of the title fight either, and he told Viaplay that the team should be ‘quite proud’ of their efforts so far.

“I don’t think they expected that,” he said in response to the praise from elsewhere. “They thought that the engine would just explode! In that area, we’ve obviously done a great job. We can be quite proud of that.”