Off late, Red Bull has become a team plagued with controversy and drama in the F1 world. From allegations of “inappropriate behavior” on Christian Horner to strong rumors of Adrian Newey wanting to move away from the team – Red Bull is enduring it all. However, the incidents haven’t hurt the team’s efforts as they head into a new era with the upcoming 2026 regulation changes.
With Honda partnering up with Aston Martin for the 2026 season, Red Bull decided to manufacture its own engine, in association with Ford. Speaking to the media, including RacingNews 365 at the Chinese Grand Prix, Horner exuded confidence and optimism while addressing the same. Referring to the “exceptional people“ Red Bull had in their team, Horner appreciated them for being brave with their progress.
“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.”, the Red Bull boss said.
Having won 117 races thus far, Red Bull will face one of its toughest challenges yet. 2026 will mark the first time the Milton Keynes outfit will showcase its own engine in an F1 car, competing with the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, and Renault. They will also go toe-to-toe against their old engine supplier Honda.
And if that wasn’t enough, 2026 will also see the entry of Audi on the grid, which will come in with its new F1 engine. Hence, six power unit suppliers will be competing on the grid. Aside from the increasing numbers, one more element will add to Red Bull’s challenge.
A steep learning curve awaits Red Bull
With work continuing at Red Bull for the production of their engines, several reports claimed the team had hit a snag in the development. There were concerns that the Red Bull-Ford partnership was under increasing stress, especially following the events that transpired around Christian Horner. However, the team principal brushed aside all other concerns by shining a light on the vast difference between them and Ferrari.
Claiming to be 70 years behind Ferrari in the development race, Horner said his team would apply the same philosophy to their engines as their chassis. “We’re on a steep learning curve, where we’ve got 70 years of disadvantage to Ferrari. But we’ve got a great group of people. We’ve got, we’re applying the same philosophy as we have on the chassis to the engine”, he said.
Another issue for Red Bull will be the fact that they have to start from scratch. With no previous engine to learn from, the Austrian team will be at a certain disadvantage from a cost cap point of view.
However, it also allows them to be flexible in their approach, and distractions such as last year’s reliability wouldn’t be a concern for them. Hence, Horner is in favor of waiting until 2026 before drawing any conclusions.
