Ford has conceded that there is “some nervousness” surrounding Red Bull‘s 2026 Formula 1 power unit, despite insisting that the internal targets have been reached.
The American marque is collaborating with Red Bull as the six-time World Champions prepare to compete with an engine that’s been built in-house from next season.
But while things are on track, Ford Performance Director Mark Rushbrook has admitted there will be apprehension until Red Bull’s RB22 machine debuts on the track.
“We are to plan, so where we need to be, but it all comes together when it’s actually in the car and on track,” Rushbrook told Autosport.
“So that first day of testing is an important date, and an important week. It’s when we get to see how all this hard work in the past three years is going to pay off.
“There’s always some level of nervousness or anticipation anytime there’s a new car or engine on track.
“Our computer tools are great for designing; our labs are great for evaluating and developing the hardware, and the calibration that goes with it, so we can simulate a lot.
“But until you get it all together on an actual race track, you haven’t seen everything. And it’s a question of what are you going to see on track that you didn’t see in the lab.”
Red Bull in the dark over where it stands
Rushbrook has insisted both parties’ internal goals have been met, but it won’t know whether it raised the bar high enough until it sees what its rivals have mustered.
“Based upon the rules that everybody needs to live within you can estimate what is theoretically possible. And that is what you set your ultimate target on,” he said.
“I think everyone would probably estimate the same with their engineers because it’s the same laws of physics that are being used by everybody.
“I think everyone’s going to come up with that as the ultimate idea of what is theoretically possible.
“But after that, it’s a matter of how efficient do you actually get there in terms of delivery.”
Red Bull has addressed that it would be reasonable to suspect that the side’s Internal Combustion Engine won’t be as competitive as the established manufacturers.
Rushbrook has corroborated that this is poised to be the case, but he alleviated concerns by stressing that any performance deficit is likely to be negligible at worst.
“But it would only be slight, I think,” he countered.
“Because yes, existing engine manufacturers have all those years of experience, but it’s still a bit different again with these rules for 2026.
“And we’ve got a lot of experienced people that came in from other programs to find it together.
“So even if we’re a little bit behind with the combustion engine, we don’t think it’s going to be by much, and we’ll make up for it in everything else.”
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