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Max Verstappen's initial assessment of Red Bull's "risk" in the 2026 F1 season has been overturned by the team, as they claimed next season's performance looks "promising" and they could deliver a strong car. With the changing regulations next year, the grid is expected to be shuffled in terms of performance and competitiveness.
Major changes in both the aerodynamic and engine regulations are set to be a unique challenge for the teams. Especially for Red Bull Racing, which will no longer have a deal with Honda as its engine supplier. The team will begin working on their own power units, in association with Ford. However, this will be a new territory for the team, and while a large question mark hangs in front of their performance next year, RBR expects it to be a strong one.
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Red Bull's technical director, Pierre Wache, recently reinforced the team's trust in their power units for the 2026 season, going against what Max Verstappen had said earlier. Speaking to RacingNews365, he claimed that the performance looks "very promising."
"With the power unit, it’s difficult to say, but it looks very, very promising," he said (via RN365).
However, the aerodynamic performance is still doubtful.
"On the car, there are new aerodynamic regulations and it’s difficult to say," Wache added. "There’s a lot to find, difficult to know what the ideas the others will have. Normally, you learn a lot when you see the other car, you try to understand what everybody's doing. I hope we find a good direction, but you never know."
Red Bull Racing had Adrian Newey up until this year, whose design innovations helped them dominate the grid in two separate F1 eras. However, he moved to Aston Martin this season, and the team will be going ahead with a car not designed by him for the first time.
Max Verstappen expects Red Bull's engines to be a "risk" in the 2026 F1 season
Red Bull Racing has spent a long time in Formula 1 as an engine customer. Their stint with Honda turned out to be quite successful in the recent era; however, that partnership will end with this season wrapping up, and the Japanese brand will then supply engines to Aston Martin in the 2026 season.
The new regulations will act as a blank canvas for teams on the grid. The engine will be largely different from the one that is currently in use, with 50% of the power being supplied by electrical components.
Max Verstappen recently mentioned that it could be a "risk" for Red Bull, considering their lack of expertise in the engine department.
"Next year will not be easy, with our own engine, of course. It’s a new risk for Red Bull. But they also took that risk when they entered Formula 1, and they didn’t do badly," Max Verstappen said.
At the same time, he feels that Mercedes might be able to crack the code with a more competitive engine and will set the benchmark for the rest of the grid.
"I think Mercedes will be in the lead [in 2026]. They’re still there and strong, they’re atop company. So I think they’ll be in the lead, especially when it comes to the engine."
Max Verstappen is set to continue racing for Red Bull in the future, too. Although he was linked with moving to other teams recently, he has a contract with the team till the 2028 season, and also reinforced later that he will be continuing with RBR and not leaving them anytime soon.
