When Christian Horner took a cheeky dig at Lewis Hamilton for calling Red Bull a 'fizzy drinks company'

Back in 2021, Christian Horner pulled out an old criticism by Lewis Hamilton and fired him with a cheeky dig. The former Red Bull boss, who was in charge of the team, as well as the upcoming Powertrains division, spoke about taking the challenge head-on after Hamilton called his team "a fizzy drinks company."

During one of his interviews with High Performance Podcast, Horner spoke about how he built Red Bull from scratch, and how the team was going from being just a team to having a Powertrains division ahead of the 2026 regulations. During this interview, the former Red Bull boss pointed out Hamilton's criticism.

"You know, Red Bull, as was famously said by a current seven-time world champion, they're a fizzy drinks company. How can they make a racing car?" You know, and the same would apply to an engine, but you know, we'll do it and we'll do it, we'll do it well and we'll get the best people involved and we'll give them a great environment," Horner said.

Following this, Horner took the dig at Hamilton by stating that they were on their way to building a facility that would be all "inclusive." Here's what he further added:

"And it'll be inclusive, that breed and you that breeds um and perpetuates throughout a business and I think it's all the talent that we've bought into the team over the years and the reason we've had tremendous stability as well is because you know it it it just uh it perpetuates throughout the business." (5:48-6:29)

As Red Bull parted ways with Honda, their long-standing engine partner, they will be developing engines from 2026 and be in the same league as Honda, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Audi. However, they will have much-needed assistance from Ford, Red Bull's new partner from 2026.

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What did Lewis Hamilton say about Red Bull?

Back in 2011, Lewis Hamilton poked at Red Bull, saying that they were just a drinks company. Hamilton's comment has come after Red Bull emerged as the 2010 Constructors' Champions, and Sebastian Vettel became the Drivers' Champion.

Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and McLaren - Source: Getty

"Red Bull are not a manufacturer, they are a drinks company," Hamilton said. "It's a drinks company versus McLaren/Ferrari history. I don't know what their plan is. Our team is building to become a bigger manufacturer, like Ferrari, and I can only see our team being there for a ridiculous amount of time. It is a pure-bred racing team."

Lewis Hamilton was a McLaren driver then, and stayed with the same team for two more years, until he moved to Mercedes in 2013. However, in all three years, the British driver had to stay behind the shadows of Red Bull, technically the drinks company, in terms of championships.