Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner acknowledged the team’s disadvantage compared to Ferrari in engine development for the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Red Bull is taking over the power unit project following Honda’s departure from F1 at the end of 2021, even with the Japanese manufacturer maintaining full logistical support until the end of 2025. The team will have support from Ford from 2026, but Horner admits Red Bull is ‘on a steep learning curve’ compared to Ferrari, which has been building F1 engines since the 1950s.
“We are 70 years behind Ferrari, but we have a great group of people,” Horner told Autosport. “We are applying the same philosophy that we used on the chassis, to the engine. It’s a different challenge, there are no guarantees. We don’t know where others stand with these new rules. It’s a blank sheet. We don’t have the benefit of learning from an existing engine.”
Despite the delay, Horner is confident in the progress of Red Bull’s engine division: “We won’t see the result until 2026, but we are achieving our goals at this point. With less than two years to go, if I look at the progress we’ve made in the last two years, from almost zero, it’s been impressive.”
Horner also highlighted Red Bull’s confidence in developing the chassis for 2026, once the new rules are defined: “If I had to pick one team to get the chassis right, I think we have a reasonable track record. It’s a new project, but we have exceptional people and an incredible facility.”
“Of course, what we did is audacious. It’s brave and bold, but Red Bull Racing wouldn’t have won 117 races and done what we did without making bold decisions. We believe it will be worth it”, concluded Horner.
Meanwhile, Honda has gone back and will officially be in Formula 1 from 2026, supplying its engines to Aston Martin.
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