F1 News
Horner comments on the 'hardest challenge Red Bull has ever faced in F1'
- Ludo van Denderen
Max Verstappen has secured all his world titles with Honda-powered engines. However, if he remains with Red Bull Racing in 2026, as currently expected, he will aim for another championship with a power unit developed in-house by the Austrian team with partner Ford. Whether or not the new engine will deliver instant success remains uncertain, and team principal Christian Horner appears to be cautiously managing expectations.
Honda will remain Red Bull Racing's engine partner for just one more season before the team parts ways with the Japanese manufacturer for good. Still, Red Bull is already hard at work developing the successor to the current power unit powering Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson’s cars this year.
In four years, Red Bull has designed and built its own engine from scratch. That has taken a lot of work, as Christian Horner revealed in a conversation with PlanetF1. "In four years, we built a factory and developed an engine, but we’re taking on 75 years of experience with Ferrari and 30 years with HPP (Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains), so we have no illusions."
Horner notices the 'immense mountain' Red Bull must climb
Horner seems to suggest that Red Bull may be behind the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes due to their status as a new engine manufacturer. "The mountain that we have to climb is immense, but, with the right spirit, and the right quality people that we have within the business, it will be achievable," the Red Bull Racing team boss explained.
“It’s by far the biggest challenge that we’ve taken on in Formula 1.”
This article was written in collaboration with Toby Nixon
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