Red Bull gives major Ford engine status update ahead of F1 2026 collaboration

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has confirmed the team’s F1 2026 engine, being built in collaboration with Ford, is in the “peak stress moment” in order to get it ready for next season.

Red Bull is in the process of building its own power unit for the first time in 2026, and has partnered with the US motoring giants after its factory power unit deal with Honda expires at the end of 2025.

Mekies: Red Bull engine at ‘peak stress stage’ ahead of F1 2026 Ford collaboration

The Red Bull Powertrains division is working to get the team’s first in-house power unit on track in time for the 2026 campaign, with testing getting underway at the end of January.

Mekies confirmed the power unit is undergoing testing in the team’s dynamometer, with its operation fully up and running to ensure an engine will be ready to place within Red Bull and Racing Bulls’ next challengers.

The Red Bull team principal was keen to emphasise the moment in which the team finds itself, because after more than two decades in Formula 1, even though it has had exclusive power unit deals in the past, Red Bull is taking the final step to becoming its own fully-fledged factory team.

That, Mekies says, is typical of Red Bull as a brand.

“At first, symbolically, it’s huge, because there is no crazier challenge than Oracle Red Bull Racing with Ford deciding to do its own engine,” Mekies told Red Bull’s in-house Talking Bull podcast.

“There is nothing as crazy as that in recent Formula 1 history. It’s typical Red Bull crazy stuff to do.

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“Just hearing that sound is already crazy, let alone whether it’s going to be fast or not. So yes, the sound is on. It’s been on the dyno for a while now, and it’s only a few months to go, so we are actually in the peak stress moment to make sure we can actually make one and get one to the racetrack.”

Red Bull-Ford Powertrains will be one of two new power unit manufacturers joining the grid next season, with Audi also producing its own power unit in time for its entry to the grid in 2026.

Cadillac will arrive on the grid as a constructor, but will utilise Ferrari power for its first two seasons in Formula 1, before introducing a factory Cadillac power unit to the grid in 2028.

There are further switches in power unit supply, too, with Alpine opting to take customer Mercedes power after abandoning its in-house plans for 2026, and Red Bull’s former partners, Honda, will swap to a factory deal with Aston Martin.

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