Horner makes Ricciardo champion admission; Red Bull PU catches Brown’s eye – roundup
Christian Horner oversaw Daniel Ricciardo's peak years at Red Bull between 2014 and 2018
Saturday’s fast-paced F1 news includes Christian Horner admitting that Daniel Ricciardo would have won the world championship had Red Bull provided him with a better car at his peak.
With the new Red Bull-Ford engine catching the eye of McLaren boss Zak Brown, here’s today’s roundup…
Christian Horner: Daniel Ricciardo could’ve been champion with Red Bull
Former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes Daniel Ricciardo could have won the world championship had the team been more competitive during his peak years.
Ricciardo claimed all but one of his eight career victories with Red Bull between 2014 and 2018 before spells with Renault and McLaren.
The Australian announced his retirement from motorsport last year, almost 12 months after his last F1 appearance, before taking an ambassador role with new Red Bull engine partner Ford.
Read more: Horner: Daniel Ricciardo could have been world champion with Red Bull
Red Bull-Ford engine catches Zak Brown’s eye after F1 2026 debut
Zak Brown, the chief executive of McLaren, has admitted that the Red Bull-Ford engine was “very strong” at last month’s F1 2026 shakedown in Barcelona.
Red Bull is producing its own engines for the first time this year via its Powertrains division, which is working in collaboration with US manufacturer Ford.
Brown quipped that he would “rather them not be as competitive” after Red Bull and McLaren developed a rivalry over recent years.
Read more: Zak Brown calls for FIA talks on deployment concerns while Red Bull engine impresses
Adrian Newey achieves Aston Martin F1 landmark with AMR26 design
Aston Martin boss Adrian Newey says the new AMR26 car is “much more” tightly packaged than the team has ever attempted before in F1.
The AMR26 is the first Aston Martin F1 car to be produced by Newey since the legendary designer completed his move from Red Bull last year.
The car brought the paddock to a standstill when it broke cover on the penultimate day of the Barcelona shakedown.
Read more: In his own words: Adrian Newey on the Aston Martin AMR26
Sky F1 confirms limited coverage of Bahrain F1 2026 test
Sky F1 has confirmed that only the final hour of each day’s running will be broadcast live during this week’s second F1 2026 pre-season test in Bahrain.
It comes after PlanetF1.com revealed last month that the first Bahrain test was set to have limited broadcast coverage.
PlanetF1.com first reported on January 22 that only the final hour of each day’s running would be broadcast live. Full coverage is expected to return for the final test across February 18-20.
Read more: Sky F1 confirms schedule tweak ahead of Bahrain pre-season test
Lewis Hamilton visits Michael Schumacher’s title-winning Ferrari F2004
Lewis Hamilton has posted an image of himself having a peek under the covers at Michael Schumacher’s iconic Ferrari F2004 during a visit to Maranello this week.
The F2004 is one of the most dominant cars in F1 history having won 15 of a possible 18 races in 2004 as Schumacher (13 victories) collected his seventh and final world championship.
This year marks 20 years since Schumacher’s last season with Ferrari.
Read more: Lewis Hamilton pays Ferrari F2004 visit after Lego confirms new Schumacher model
