"I hear all the stories from Christian"- Max Verstappen impressed with Red Bull's project of building its own F1 power units

Max Verstappen is impressed with Red Bull's new project to build its power units in-house in an attempt to reduce external reliance on other manufacturers. The new power units will be used from the 2026 season.

The project started when Honda announced it would pull out of the sport at the end of 2020. Red Bull has been using Honda power since 2019. As a result of this announcement, they needed a permanent solution to their power unit dependency on other companies. Honda agreed to supply complete engines from Japan to the Austrian team until 2025 under the Red Bull Powertrains badge.

Meanwhile, Red Bull is working on its own power units for the 2026 season and beyond. There were talks of a partnership with Porsche for power units, but the contract negotiations fell apart earlier this month.

Speaking to the media, Max Verstappen applauded the team for its new project. When asked if he had visited the new factory, he replied:

"I've not been there yet. I've seen a few people around, and of course, I hear all the stories from Christian [Horner] and Helmut [Marko] as well. It's pretty impressive what they're doing there at the moment, and what's to come. I was already speaking to Christian last time I was at the factory that next time I am there, we will head over and see what's what's going on. We're so limited on time when I get there, it's just simulator the whole day or even after that, some media commitments as well. So I've just never really had the time to travel there, but next time I do the simulator session, I'll shorten that a bit and go over."

Red Bull won the 2021 F1 driver's championship with Honda-powered cars. They have previously won four championships from 2010 to 2013 using cars powered by Renault. The agreement came to a close in 2015. Red Bull used Renault engines from 2016 to 2018, rebadged as TAG Heuer. Max Verstappen is looking to win his second championship this year. He has a comfortable 116-point lead at the top of the standings and can win it at the next race in Singapore.

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Max Verstappen says to wait and see till 2026 about the new power units

Max Verstappen spoke with the media about the new power unit project. He expressed his satisfaction with the work Red Bull is doing and commended them for it. He also added that it is better to wait and see till 2026 before forming any opinion. He said,

"We still have to wait and see until 2026 to see how it's going to go, but everyone is very positive and motivated."

Starting in the 2026 season, every team on the grid will receive new power units. And as with the aerodynamic changes of 2022, it is hard to predict which team will fare better. Mercedes dominated the sport in the turbo hybrid era and so there are hopes they can recover from their current disappointing season.

It will be interesting to see whether Red Bull and Max Verstappen will be able to continue their dominance following all the changes.