Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner claims the Milton Keynes-based Formula 1 outfit has “70 years of disadvantage to Ferrari” as it builds its powertrains project ahead of the 2026 season.
Red Bull has been running Honda power units under its own banner amid an engine freeze following the Japanese marque’s departure from F1 in an official capacity at the end of the 2021 campaign.
Honda is poised to make a full comeback in 2026 with Aston Martin whereas Red Bull has set up a powertrains division with backing from Ford.
Still, developing a F1 power unit from the ground up is no small feat and Horner admits Red Bull is “on a steep learning curve” in comparison to the likes of Ferrari which has been building F1 engines since the series’ inception in the 1950s.
“We’ve got 70 years of disadvantage to Ferrari, but we’ve got a great group of people,” Horner told Autosport.
“We’re applying the same philosophy as we have on the chassis to the engine.
“It’s a different challenge with the engine, so there’s no guarantees.
“There’s no knowledge of where anybody else is with these new regulations. It’s a clean sheet of paper. We don’t have the benefit of an existing engine to learn from.
“From a cost cap perspective, that’s a disadvantage, but then at the same time, we don’t have a distraction of the current engine and the reliability fixes and so on that are having to be dealt with there.
“I guess we’re only really going to see in 2026, but we’re meeting our targets at this point in time. With just under two years to run, if I look at the progress we’ve made in the last two years, from almost a standing start, it’s been very impressive.”
2026’s engine regulations have been known since 2022, but the forthcoming chassis regulations are yet to be set in stone.
Horner has been clear Red Bull is fighting an uphill battle with its engine project compared to its competitors in terms of an experience deficit, he has in equal measure been confident about the powertrains division progress and backed his team to make good of the chassis regulations once they are confirmed.
“If I was going to back any team to get the chassis right, I think we’ve got a reasonable track record,” he said.
“We’ve taken on a new project with the engine. We’ve got some exceptional people. We’ve got an incredible facility.
“For sure, it’s very bold what we’ve done. It’s very brave and it’s pretty ballsy, but Red Bull wouldn’t have won 117 races and done what we’ve done without making bold decisions. We believe that it will pay off.”
