Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has made the decision to explain the Red Bull Powertrains scenario after claiming that the delay in 2026 works is pushing Max Verstappen to join Mercedes.
This suggestion came through RacingNews365’s Ruud Dimmers and driver Tom Coronel, who had heard in the paddock that Red Bull-Ford was not making the progress they had hoped for with its powertrain designed to the new 2026 regulations.
Speculation that Verstappen could sensationally swap Red Bull for Mercedes has already been surfacing for several months, due to off-track unrest within the team earlier this year and the risk that senior advisor Helmut Marko will simply resign.
PlanetF1. com understands that there is a clause in Verstappen’s contract that would allow him to leave if Marko did.
Dimmers and Coronel speculated at the time that difficulties with Red Bull’s first powertrain for 2026 are more ammunition for Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff’s pursuit of Verstappen after turning the existing dominant force in F1 into the main target for updating Lewis Hamilton’s output for 2025.
“In 2026 there will be absolutely new engines and rumours are circulating that the new RBPT engine is not that smart and possibly won’t last long on the dyno,” Dimmers said.
“This worries me and, of course, it’s one of the reasons why Toto Wolff is becoming more and more interested in Max.
“The question is whether Max will settle for one less 2025 season at Mercedes. But the last time new engines arrived, the Mercedes engine was just a moment and a part faster. Even Williams came up quickly with this engine!
“Mercedes is, of course, a very knowledgeable car logo, they work day and night with hybrid technology. For the cars they own, for the sports cars they own. And Red Bull Powertrains doesn’t have that. It’s just a lot less there. That’s my concern and I think it’s the concern of some others.
Coronel added: “Others don’t, let’s just say Verstappen’s camp. Either way, they’re a little scary. “
“So they’re also going to look further ahead, especially after the month that’s passed. Now they have a lever between the doors to shop anyway. That’s what’s happening.
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However, it turns out that such hypotheses and considerations about the state of Red Bull-Ford’s PU are unnecessary, as Horner has given an update on the developments to prove that it is not at all.
The creation of this powertrain for the revised 2026 regulations is a major step forward for the Austrian company, which has never been a full-fledged PU manufacturer. Horner says the Milton Keynes-based side are “up to the challenge” and are keen to “hit the mark”.
“With the engine, we are on a competitive curve as a manufacturer of completely new powertrains. But the team is up to the challenge,” Horner told Motorsport. com.
“Our facilities are complete, whether from the point of view of progression, with control benches and installation rooms, etc. , and production capacity.
“But two years in the engine business is a very short period of time. We’re on a steep learning curve, but we’re on that curve and where we expect to be at this point.
“We are achieving the goals we set for ourselves. It’s hard to know how those goals compare to those of our competitors. But the effort behind the scenes is huge, as it’s literally a race against time until early 2026. “
Lately Red Bull is immersed in a successful engine partnership with Honda, having won two constructors’ titles and three drivers’ titles.
Honda will partner with Aston Martin from 2026 as Red Bull embarks on its own motorsports adventure alongside Ford.
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