Red Bull are all set to face the biggest challenge in their 20-year history when they switch to their in-house engine program in 2026. However, they will have their long-standing pioneer Max Verstappen driving for them in 2026 and this indeed comes as a big relief for Christian Horner’s team amid his recent exit rumors.
The Dutchman, in his recent interview, revealed that he is in constant talks with Horner about the magnanimous change, and there is no such intention for him to leave Milton-Keynes for now. “I mean if I have to speculate about everything… I might be worried if I’m still alive tomorrow, right?,” said Verstappen as per Motorsport.
He went on to add, “So, I don’t really worry about that too much. Of course, I am in close contact with Christian [Horner] about that and the people working there.” Following this, he spoke about the upcoming monumental change and believes the situation is not very urgent. “Everyone’s working flat out, so there is no need to panic about that. It’s still not 2026,” the 26-year-old concluded.
Red Bull, along with their sister team RB will independently use the engines from their Milton-Keynes-based facility following the monumental engine overhaul. After pairing up with Cosworth, Renault, Ferrari, and Honda, the Red Bull fraternity will go self-sufficient for the first time in their racing history.
With this, they will be venturing into a sector with no prior experience! While they have Ford as a strategic partner, it is all in all an indigenous project under the Red Bull Powertrains (RBPT) brand.
Furthermore, Mercedes and Ferrari have already established themselves as dominant powers in the powertrains division and supply engines and components to rivals as well. This puts them in an advantageous position over Red Bull already.
What to expect from new regulations in 2026?
Formula 1 switches to revised power unit regulations for its engines from 2026. Through this, they aim to part ways with the complicated and expensive MGU-H system and put more emphasis on the electric-powered MGU-K instead.
This regulation change will also constitute a prominent step towards Formula 1’s commitment to sustainability. The new engines from 2026 will use 100% sustainable fuels, and this means limiting carbon emissions from the usage of fossil fuels.
Coming back to the Austrian outfit, the huge step into the unknown comes after Red Bull decided to part ways with Honda at the end of 2025 and manufacture their own powertrains in Milton Keynes from 2026 when the new regulations come in.
Even though Max Verstappen’s team are going to have salient inputs from their new partner Ford, it’s still a step down given Red Bull does not have ample experience in the sector and will no longer have the assistance of Honda. Meanwhile, Ford is coming back into F1 after a long hiatus, since the early 2000s.
The American brand has been an F1 engine supplier previously, having won multiple championships back in the ’60s till the ’90s. But, in recent times, the engines in F1 have seen a huge evolution that Ford could take some time to understand besides Red Bull.
