Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies admits he expects team to ‘follow’ rivals at start of 2026 F1 season amid new engine overhaul | F1 News

Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies has admitted he expects the team to “follow” its top rivals at the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

For the first time since joining the F1 grid in 2005, Red Bull is producing its own engine – in partnership with American car giant Ford – to coincide with the introduction of new regulations for both power units and chassis.

Max Verstappen narrowly missed out on winning the team’s fifth consecutive drivers’ title last year as McLaren’s Lando Norris won the world championship by just two points, but there are serious doubts as to whether Red Bull will be strong enough to challenge for the honors in 2026 as it adapts to its power unit.

Talking to Sky Sports News as the team unveiled its 2026 livery in Detroit on Thursday night, Mekies said: “We know there will be some difficulties. We know we will have a few sleepless nights and a few headaches, but please bear with us in the first few months.

“No one underestimates the size of the mountain we have to climb. It’s a challenge we all want to be matched with, hopefully we’ll come out on top in the end.

“I think it would be foolish, to say the least, to think that, yes, we’ve done everything from scratch – with a lot of support from Ford – and then we get to the first race and we’re on the same level as people who have been doing it for years. It won’t be like that, we’ll be behind them.”

Red Bull supplies its own engines as well as those of the Racing Bulls sub-team. Mercedes builds its own engines, which will also be used by master builders McLaren, as well as Williams and Alpine. Ferrari also made their own engines, which would be used by Haas and Cadillac. Audi, which has taken over from the Sauber team, makes its own engines, while Honda, formerly owned by Red Bull, produces power for Aston Martin.

Despite his concerns at the start of the season, which begins with the Australian Grand Prix on March 8, Mekies believes his team can make a big difference during their campaign.

Red Bull struggled to compete with McLaren during the middle stages of last season, before a major change in performance – after Mekies replaced Christian Horner as principal – saw Verstappen win six of the last nine wins.

Mekies added: “We’re going to have an incredibly high level of development season, both on the chassis side and on the power unit side.

“We believe in our people, so the fact that we have put together what we believe to be an extremely strong team with extremely strong partners.

“You saw last year during the season that since it was the last year of the regulations, you could still see how much the team could do throughout the season by improving,” he said.

“We will take that in 2026 three or four times in terms of the level of development, certainly for us in terms of how much we have to learn. So we take it step by step but with the right level of aggression.”

Verstappen: It won’t be easy

Uncertainty over Red Bull’s ability to compete in 2026 has contributed to doubts over whether Verstappen will stay with the team this year amid speculation linking him to Mercedes.

The Dutchman finally committed to staying with Red Bull for at least one more season in late July, but it remains to be seen how patient – and willing – he will be.

Asked by Sky Sports News even if he is expecting a car he can fight for wins and titles this year, Verstappen replied: “Time will tell, won’t it?

“I mean we don’t know, what I do know is that everyone is giving everything they have.

“We’re trying to move forward, we’re really trying to increase everything, but it’s not going to be easy, we know that.”

For the first time in his F1 career, Verstappen starts the season without the guidance of Dr Helmut Marko, who was fired at the end of 2025 having served as Red Bull motorsport consultant since the team joined the grid in 2005.

The exit of Marko, who was very close to Verstappen and his camp, followed the dismissal of Horner in July – leaving a new feeling at the leadership of the team in 2026.

Reflecting on Marko’s departure, Verstappen said: “We had an emotional call after Abu Dhabi. It will be a bit different.

“All good things will come to an end at some point. We will see each other anyway. When I go to Graz, we will have lunch together! We have achieved many great things together, which will always be in our minds.”

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