Horner: Red Bull’s success "p***** off" manufacturers like Merc, Ferrari in F1

Red Bull joined F1 in 2005, taking over from Jaguar.

While their success wasn’t immediate, Red Bull came alive when the 2009 regulations came into play.

A year later, they took their first titles which started four years of dominance with Sebastian Vettel.

The start of the hybrid era wasn’t successful as Red Bull were held back by an underperforming power unit.

Their switch to Honda proved to be a masterstroke, with Max Verstappen defeating Lewis Hamilton in 2021, before retaining his title in the following year.

In 2011, Hamilton famously made reference to Red Bull just being a drinks company.

“Red Bull are not a manufacturer, they are a drinks company. It’s a drinks company versus McLaren, Ferrari history,” he said.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Horner expressed his enjoyment of being “a bunch of people from a fizzy drinks can” and taking it to some of the world’s leading manufacturers such as Ferrari and Mercedes.

“I think it pisses them off, to be honest,” Horner said. “If you are an OEM and you’re being beaten up by a bunch of people from a fizzy drinks can.

“Sometimes it sits a little uncomfortably but it just shows that if you get the right people together, the right tools, the right belief. Anything is possible.

“We’ve done it on the chassis side so we thought why not do it on the engine side as well.”