Red Bull declare stance over looming radical F1 rule change

Red Bull Powertrains is open to a shift from turbo hybrids back to normally-aspirated engines for F1's next engine cycle, Laurent Mekies has said.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem recently confirmed that for 2030 or 2031, F1 will return to either V8 or V10 naturally-aspirated engines, with battery systems in place. 

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has already indicated that he is open to such a change, despite Mercedes HPP's dominance of the turbo hybrid era, winning 10 of the 12 constructors' titles and seven drivers' titles on offer since 2014, including through McLaren's customer supply.

RBPT entered F1 as a PUM for the first time in 2026, with Ford providing technical support, as Mekies made clear that a V8 or V10 engine would be something welcomed at Milton Keynes.

"As Red Bull Powertrains, we are pretty cool with it," Mekies told media, including RacingNews365.

"We feel we had to start from zero and try to do with this power unit, and I think the starting point is decent.

"We are still lacking some PU performance compared to the Mercedes, but we feel that the guys did a phenomenal job to put us in the fight.

"So we are quite excited to have another challenge, and we are probably a bit more flexible and independent.

"We don't have the background history, but we are quite excited about the new challenge.

"There is a V8 in the Ford Mustang, which I'm lucky to drive every day to Milton Keynes, so we may have an early start."