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Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko revealed that the team's power unit division was "right on track" for the 2026 engine regulations. The sport will undergo an overhaul in terms of new aero and power unit regulations, with the latter divided into two parts: combustion engine and electrical energy.
There will be five power unit suppliers in the 2026 season as Audi officially enters the sport next year to join Red Bull, Honda, Mercedes, and Ferrari. The year 2026 will also be the first time the Austrian team debuts on the grid with its power unit after its partnership with Honda ends after 2025.
Speaking with Kleine Zeitung, Helmut Marko shared a positive update on the power unit development in Milton-Keynes, as he believed that they would not be too far behind the "favorites" Mercedes in 2026. He said:
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"It will be a massive change. Mercedes has already declared itself the favorite; everyone is in on it. There won't be much difference with the combustion engine. We're right on track, thanks in part to help from Ford, and believe we'll have a maximum of five kW less – absolutely fine at this point."
The Austrian team shared that the big worry remains the battery side of the power unit that will provide electrical energy, adding:
"The big criterion is the battery. How is it cooled? How quickly is it charged? How quickly do you get the energy into the car? It's all about the software, and it's possible that someone will be way ahead in this area. But we have good people, many from Mercedes, and we've bought the necessary equipment here in Graz from AVL. But nobody knows exactly where we stand."
Red Bull will produce its own power units from 2026 with the association of American automotive giant Ford as Honda moved to Aston Martin next year.
Red Bull driver pays tribute to Honda ahead of the Japanese GP
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that he "enjoyed" his association with Honda a lot as they have powered his four consecutive world championships from 2021 to 2024.
Speaking at Formula 1 fan day run by Honda in Tokyo, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, the 27-year-old reflected on his experience and said:
"It's been a ride that I enjoyed a lot. Of course, before we started working with Honda, we had our success. But I could have never imagined the heights that we got to, winning four championships together. So it's like a goodbye for now, but that's it. I'm still quite young and you never know what happens in the future."
Max Verstappen has won 58 of 63 races with Honda-powered cars and produced the most dominant F1 season of all time, with 19 wins out of 22 races in the 2023 season.
