Red Bull Powertrains is teaming up with Ford to create the engine for the current Formula 1 world champions.
They’re currently testing their new turbo-hybrid design on their dynos.
Red Bull’s progress with the engine project has been a topic of discussion, but team principal Christian Horner assures that everything is going according to plan.
Horner spoke to the media about the progress, saying, “With the engine, we’re on an aggressive curve being a brand new power unit manufacturer. But the team is really rising to that challenge.”
He explained that their facilities are ready for testing and manufacturing, but it takes time to learn and develop a new engine.
Red Bull doesn’t know how other manufacturers are doing, but Horner says they’re meeting the performance targets they set for themselves.
He said, “We are hitting the targets that we’re setting ourselves. Now, how those targets stack up to our competitors is always difficult to know.”
Earlier concerns about the engine’s performance led to speculation about Max Verstappen’s future with the team.
However, Verstappen dismissed these worries, saying it’s too early to panic about something that won’t happen until 2026.
He said, “Everyone’s working flat out, so there is no need to panic about that. It’s still not 2026.”
Verstappen acknowledged the challenge of competing against established engine manufacturers but expressed confidence in their team’s capabilities.
He said, “But we have a lot of good people working on the project and we’re very excited about it. So time will tell, of course, where it’s going to be.”
