Red Bull claim their new PU setup to be ‘better than Honda’ – Red Bull Racing entered Formula One with a bang when they bought the ailing Jaguar Racing from Ford. Quickly the new kids on the block were challenging the paddock norms with pumping tunes deafening the pit lane post chequered flag and a double championship winning season in just their sixth year in the sport.
Their dominance with Sebastian Vettel claiming eight titles in four consecutive years (2010-2013) appeared to change the way a top F1 team was organised. Gone was the corporate interference from Ford as the Austrian Holding company gave Horner, Newey et al almost complete freedom to go about racing however they wished.
Renault were the perfect partner at the time to power Red Bull to their titles as the French company did what it has done best in its F1 history – build winning engines and not have the distraction of running a works team.
Red Bull power unit suppliers nightmare
Then the bombshell dropped. The new V6 hybrid power units arrived in 2014 and having spent in excess of a reported $1bn on research and development, Mercedes came out of the blocks with a powertrain which was to dominate the rest of the field.
Red Bull battled on with their inferior Renault power but as the French company failed to address its weaknesses the relationship became extremely strained. Wanting to build its own engines Red Bull pressed the FIA to ditch the hybrid technology for the next F1 engine era and return to V8 internal combustion engines running on 100% sustainable fuels.
In the meantime Honda was winding its relationship up with McLaren and so the Milton Keynes based outfit opted to partner for now with the Japanese organisation.
The FIA, persuaded by the likes of Mercedes, Audi and Porsche, decided to continue with the V6 hybrids beyond the next cycle of power unit changes. Honda then declared they would withdraw from Formula One to focus on more road car relevant projects so once again Red Bull were left in limbo.
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With the billionaire founder of the energy drinks empire, Didi Mateschitz, then alive and kicking Christian Horner and Adrian Newey persuaded him to attempt a feat never seen before in Formula One where an independent team would build its own power unit.
Red Bull Powertrains was born and the monumental task of beating the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari at their own game began. Honda then had a collective change of heart, deciding to remain in Formula One and set its European Racing division free of the corporate vagaries that has plagued its long term planning for decades.
Yet Red Bull were not prepared to turn back despite the championship success they had finally beating Mercedes in 2021, they were set on building their own power supply for their F1 cars. A badging partnership was forged with Ford pre-season 2023 although occasional reports from stateside suggest they are consulting on the electrical side of the new 2026 power unit.
The signs are good for Red Bull given they have been the first to raise concerns over specifications of the new 50% electric – 50% internal combustion engine (ICE) designs. Their simulations have demonstrated on power circuits like Monza, the ICE will be merely serving as a generator making up the required quantity of electrical power.
Mercedes claims their new PU will dominate
While this was scoffed at by Mercedes Toto Wolff who claimed this was evidence Red Bull were behind their own development, a number of other manufacturers simulations have since confirmed this flaw in the new regulations.
Wolff even made claims of their own impending superiority based on the dominance they achieved last time the engine rules were changed for 2014. However, this time around the manufacturers are restricted in their spending on the new powertrains and resources are restricted in terms of bench testing times too.
The Mercedes boss made bold claims about how their new power train would dominate again as he attempted to woo Max Verstappen to leave his Red Bull home as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement.
Yet the predictions sounded hollow given at the time they were trailing significantly their customer team McLaren. Logically even if they could build the best new 2026 power unit, they could still be beaten by a customer team.
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Verstappen staying to ‘wait and see’
Red Bull and Audi as new F1 engine manufacturers have been given some incremental leeway over the others with extra resources available to them in their ‘catch up’ efforts.
With the internal struggles at Red Bull having quietened down, Max Verstappen made an honest assessment of his position just prior to the summer break. Speaking to formula.hu ahead he said: “Of course it means a lot and I appreciate the fact that I have a very long history with the team. Loyalty is very important and I think it is not always there in F1.”
Max went on to imply he was staying put for now and would see how the lie of the land after the first season of the new regulations
“A lot of things have to stay together or come together and I also have to think about the future, what will happen after 2026. So I am patient.”
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Red Bull believe integration will be ‘better merged’
Red Bull’s Chief Engineer, Paul Monaghan, believes the Red Bull Powertrains project will see them reach even greater heights than during their partnership with Honda.
“We’re very indebted and very grateful to Honda for everything they’ve done with us but, now we are all under one umbrella. I think the opportunity to be better merged with the power unit is one that we can’t forget or give up or deny ourselves,” he told PlanetF1.
“If we want to be as strong as we can be in ’26, we have to make that project work. So the challenges are there but, equally, the scope to do, at least, as good a job if not a better one than we’ve enjoyed with Honda is there for us.”
Whilst the FIA have simplified the regulations which make a power unit more portable from team to team these days, the integration of chassis and PU remains an vital marriage which as McLaren are demonstrating makes best use of the drive on offer.
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Andy Cowell credited with being the man behind Mercedes success at the dawn of the V6 era has recently been recruited by Aston Martin to ensure the integration between power unit and chassis happens in perfect harmony. This is something Monaghan claims is now happening at Red Bull too.
“The work I have seen between the Red Bull chassis side and the Red Bull Powertrain side is as good, if not stronger, than I’ve seen with any of our power unit suppliers.”
Of course this unique undertaking by Red Bull will have its good times and bad but Monaghan is bullish: “That’s our engine for 2026 and I think we can make it work.
“I think the people in the powertrain group are really committed to it, they’re clever people working hard – the ball’s in our court, isn’t it?”
RBR aero is King
The new power units will need the chassis to have lower amounts of drag to prevent Horner’s prediction over “Frankenstein cars” coming to pass and the rules around car design are yet to be finalised.
Given Red Bull’s genius in car design over the years, it could be this challenge above all where they are ahead of their competitors at the get go. Since parity was achieved in the current set of engine regulations, Mercedes have proven their chassis and aero designs are not as good as others like McLaren and Red Bull.
With the chassis/aero design to be as important as the power unit, this remains the main hope for Red Bull as their complete independence approaches.
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The 2024 Formula One season began as the last one ended. Red Bull and Max Verstappen looked unstoppable as the triple world champion qualified on pole for the season opener in Bahrain and claimed victory from his team mate by 22 seconds.
Next time out in Jeddah was a similar story. Verstappen claimed pole and the victory with Perez ahead of the rest of the field. Then came the third round in Melbourne and Max led off the line from pole position but came under pressure from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on Lap 2 and was overtaken after the Dutch driver had a wobble through Turn 3 that put him in the clutches of the Spaniard.
Clearly Max was struggling with the balance of the RB20 due to the brakes which became evident towards the end of the lap as smoke began to emerge… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
