With the way Red Bull is cruising in F1 currently, it seems highly unlikely they’d face any challenge anytime soon. However, the 2026 regulations have thrown them a curveball. The Milton Keynes-based team, in association with Ford, is building its own engine, a move dubbed risky by team boss Christian Horner. Owing to this uncertainty, The Race’s Scott Mitchell-Malm has lauded Lando Norris for deciding to stay put at McLaren.
Norris made headlines last year over rumored links with Red Bull. Given how Sergio Perez was failing to perform, it looked likely the Briton would soon make the switch. However, Norris has signed another extension with McLaren and Mitchell-Malm is all for it.
The Race’s journalist believes the 2026 engine regulations could negatively affect Red Bull, just the way they did at the beginning of the hybrid engine era. Mercedes enjoyed a period of unprecedented dominance owing to their powerful engines. Given that McLaren uses the engines produced by the Silver Arrows, they have every chance of bouncing back in 2026.
In a recent episode of The Race’s podcast, Mitchell-Malm said, “I think you can definitely have more faith in a Mercedes engine for 2026 than you can a Red Bull-Ford engine for 2026. If you trade that and you get to 2026 and Red Bull goes back to wilderness like it was in the early part of the hybrid era, where it didn’t have the right engine, then it’s career suicide to do that.”
Red Bull currently uses Honda engines under the name of Red Bull Powertrains. That partnership will come to an end in 2026 when the team will officially start using its own engines manufactured with Ford. Meanwhile, McLaren too looks to have made some serious infrastructural progress.
Is Lando Norris slated for success with McLaren in 2026?
Despite an underwhelming start to 2023, McLaren engineers found a way to bounce back. Each subsequent upgrade package paid its dividend as the team managed to emerge as the second-fastest on the grid. They are looking to carry that momentum in the upcoming season to up their ambitions and start challenging Red Bull.
Max Verstappen, however, still holds a significant edge over Lando Norris. RB19’s pace and reliability aside, the Dutchman remained error-free throughout 2023 and dominated almost every race.
Moreover, the 19 wins are a testament to the superior consistency Verstappen managed to maintain throughout the season. Knowing how Norris could pile pressure on Verstappen and push him to make errors, would Red Bull be interested in having him just before new regulations come into force? Seems unlikely.
Historically, we have seen the F1 grid go through some radical changes after new regulations. And knowing Mercedes’ engine development prowess and knowing Honda wouldn’t be a party to the action in 2026, the Silver Arrows could bounce back.
McLaren and Williams will continue to use the Silver Arrows’ engines in 2026. Therefore, the Woking squad has every bit of chance as their engine manufacturer to succeed.
Red Bull, meanwhile, will look to extend its winning run to 2025 at the very least. And given the gap they currently have over their rivals, it shouldn’t be much of a hassle.
