Szafnauer responds to Horner "Frankenstein" claim

Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer has insisted Formula 1's new-for-2026 power unit regulations are unlikely to be changed despite Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner outlining concerns over creating a "Frankenstein formula".

The sport will introduce new regulations in three years' time, with an increased focus on sustainability with synthetic fuels and the removal of the MGU-H the highlight changes.

But after initial testing, Horner fired a warning over a number of chassis compromises to make the new powertrains feasible, suggesting changes would need to be made to the rules as they are currently written.

Red Bull-Ford is one of six manufacturers signed up as suppliers for the new regulations along with Renault and asked if the French brand was also seeking a change, Szafnauer told media, including RacingNews365.com: "Speaking to the powertrain guys, we want to keep it as is.

"I don't deeply follow... I wasn't involved in the negotiations and the reasons why, but I asked them those questions and we are happy to keep it as is.

"I would imagine it's going to be unlikely to be changed."

Hard to predict the future

On whether concerns had risen akin to Horner's over a "Frankenstein" package, Szafnauer added: "We haven't quite gotten that far yet, we haven't determined that.

"I hope it isn't a Frankenstein package... I remember being in all the meetings to determine what the regulations are now and everybody, including me, said 'the racing is going to be horrible', 'all the cars are going to look the same', 'it's not going to be F1 anymore'.

"That really didn't happen, so it is hard to predict the future, especially when the regulations haven't been determined.

"So hopefully, we'll get them."