General
Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull Powertrain: How are the engines looking?
- Ludo van Denderen
Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda, Audi or still the new Red Bull Powertrains-Ford (RBPT) combination? Formula 1 's original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) hope their power unit will be the strongest on the grid in 2026. Meanwhile, these suppliers have entered the final stages of engine development and the excitement is mounting. Which one will be the strongest power unit of 2026?
The year 2025 has barely started, but F1 teams' eyes have largely been focused on 2026 since 1 January. That is when the biggest regulation change in decades in the sport will be implemented, including new engines. Over the next few months, after years of research and intensive work, the teams are finalising the power units for 2026 and beyond.
Red Bull and Audi face huge challenge
Who's in the best shape currently? On the one hand, it is a case of looking at the bigger picture, but at the same time, based on logical thinking, a pretty good indication can be given. For Audi and RBPT, having a reliable and fast engine right away will undoubtedly be quite a challenge. History has shown that no new engine supplier in F1 has ever competed at the top from the start.
Audi can still fall back on its experience in both consumer cars and racing. For Red Bull, however, this does not apply. While it is true that Max Verstappen's team has snatched people from other OEMs, the fact remains that Red Bull makes energy drinks and not engines. There is nothing at all to fall back on within the organisation, effectively an engine department was created from scratch.
Advantage for Mercedes and Ferrari?
Looking at it this way, Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda have an edge, with the latter having a slight handicap compared to its rivals from Germany and Italy. Indeed, Honda announced its exit from F1 years ago - after which Red Bull (out of necessity) decided to develop its own power units - and as a result, many bright minds left the Japanese company.
It was only after Red Bull Racing suddenly racked up world titles that Honda reversed its earlier decision. As a result, it had to look for new staff both internally and externally, and it remains to be seen whether these people will be able to repeat the feat of their predecessors.
Toto Wolff is reluctant
There are whispers in the F1 paddock that Ferrari and Mercedes currently have their affairs in order in this regard, and thus will deliver the best engines in 2026. Although Toto Wolff, the CEO of the Mercedes F1 team, does not want to anticipate this too much.
The Austrian recently said, "Certain expectations we're meeting, that's good. Others, we're still pushing to achieve our targets, it's not trivial. But then the question is, have you set your expectations in the right way? The answer is, we don't know where we are."
In any case, the next few months will see hard work at all suppliers to fine-tune the engines, because it will be 2026 sooner than you might think.
This article was written in collaboration with Norberto Mujica
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