Horner highlights scale of Red Bull's impending F1 challenge

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner believes people are underestimating the team's challenge to build its own Power Unit for the 2026 Formula 1 season.

New technical regulations will come into play in just over two years, which include the biggest engine change since the introduction of the turbo-hybrid Power Units in 2014.

Red Bull has committed to building its own engine in partnership with Ford, and is one of seven Power Unit manufacturers that has signed up to the new regulations.

An engine freeze agreed by the teams after the 2021 season allowed Red Bull to continue with the Honda-built engine designed prior to the Japanese squad's F1 exit.

Red Bull has dominated the last two F1 seasons by taking back-to-back double championships, leading to suggestions that its front-running position in the pecking order could last until new regulations come into play.

Red Bull's challenge

Should the Milton Keynes-based squad's race-winning ways be dented by the regulations, Horner accepted that it would be part of the F1 cycle.

“That's life, isn't it? Nothing lasts forever,” he told media including RacingNews365.com. “You just gotta keep evolving. 2026 is it's the next chapter for us.

“It's taking control of the one bit of variable that we've had, and I don't think people perhaps comprehend the scale of the challenge that we've taken on for 2026.

“The way the team is attacking is exactly the same way that we have with a chassis.

“We've got two years, which seems like a long way away, but we've pretty much got 100 weeks now to when we're rolling down the pit lane with a Red Bull-designed and manufactured engine in the back of the car.

“So that's nerve-wracking and exciting all at once but we're on a good trajectory.

“We’ve got some great people involved, we've got a great culture. I'm looking forward to it.“