Red Bull says engine risk is already paying off

Red Bull says the in-house Formula 1 engine project it launched as a major gamble has already exceeded expectations, even if Laurent Mekies admits the team still trails Mercedes and has yet to turn that progress into a 2026 podium.

Mekies, Red Bull team principal, told De Telegraaf the team took a “great risk” by building its own power unit and described it as “a very important assignment” for the future. He said it was “quite a challenge to get a working power unit in the car,” but the picture inside Milton Keynes is no longer the one some feared earlier in the project.

He said Red Bull is “now already” in a position where it “won’t make a mess” with the engine, even though there is still “a gap to close with the competition” from Mercedes. For a manufacturer starting from zero, Mekies said the current level has “clearly” exceeded expectations.

That matters because Red Bull sees engine independence as central to getting itself fully back to the front. Mekies framed the project as one of the pillars behind the team’s push to win again as soon as possible, arguing that controlling its own power unit is “so important” and could allow Red Bull to “make a big step, certainly towards 2027.”

His assessment was similar when he spoke to media including RacingNews365 on behalf of Red Bull Powertrains. Mekies said the company is “still lacking some PU performance compared to the Mercedes,” but added that “the guys did a phenomenal job to put us in the fight.” He also made clear Red Bull would be open to another major engine challenge in the future, saying a move to naturally aspirated V8 or V10 engines would be “something welcomed at Milton Keynes.”

“As Red Bull Powertrains, we are pretty cool with it,” he said. “We feel we had to start from zero and try to do with this power unit, and I think the starting point is decent.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull driver, has backed that view even as the team continues to search for its first podium of 2026. His best result so far is fifth place in Miami, but he said the engine operation has been building for years and credited both Red Bull and Ford for the work done to reach the current level.

“The guys have worked hard to try to get to where we are now,” Verstappen said. He added that he is “very happy and proud” of where the project stands, and suggested the bigger limitation early in the season has been the chassis rather than the power unit itself.

That leaves Red Bull in an unusual position for the start of a new engine era. The team is still short of Mercedes on outright power and still waiting for a first top-three finish, but both Mekies and Verstappen are treating the power unit as an encouraging base rather than the weak link, with the scope for a bigger step as the project matures into 2027.