Red Bull has once again shown why it remains one of Formula 1’s most creative teams when it comes to marketing, turning the FIA’s assessment of its internal combustion engine into a clever social media joke after the Italian Grand Prix. The team played on the double meaning of “ICE” — both the Formula 1 acronym for Internal Combustion Engine and the English word for frozen water — with the message: “Red Bull, best with ICE”.
Red Bull turns FIA ICE verdict into a marketing opportunity
“Best served chilled.” It is an instruction closely associated with cans of the famous Red Bull energy drink, a product recognised throughout the sporting world thanks to the Austrian-Thai company’s extensive sponsorship activities across numerous disciplines, particularly extreme sports.
In Formula 1, however, ICE has a very different meaning. It stands for Internal Combustion Engine, the thermal component of the modern power unit. Red Bull’s ICE has been judged the strongest in the FIA’s assessment, instantly giving the team’s marketing department an obvious opportunity to connect its racing operation with the product on which the wider Red Bull brand was built.
“Red Bull, best with ICE” appeared in a social media video shared by Red Bull following the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The team then doubled down on the wordplay with another caption: “Red Bull and ICE, what (a)duo”.
The joke references the engine built through the Red Bull Ford Powertrains collaboration between Milton Keynes and Ford’s operations in Michigan. The partnership has developed Red Bull’s first in-house Formula 1 power unit for the new 2026 regulations, covering both the combustion engine and the increasingly important electrical side of the package.
Red Bull Ford power unit delivers points at Monza
The timing of the post was particularly appropriate after Formula 1’s visit to Monza, where power-unit performance and efficiency are exposed more clearly than at almost any other circuit. The Red Bull Ford package held its own at the Temple of Speed, even though Mercedes ultimately dominated the race.
Max Verstappen finished third to secure a podium for Red Bull, crossing the line behind the Mercedes pairing of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. The result provided another useful benchmark for an RB22 whose strengths and weaknesses have fluctuated significantly depending on circuit characteristics, with Max Verstappen previously highlighting difficulties extracting the car’s full potential.
Both Racing Bulls cars also finished in the points at Monza. Arvid Lindblad took eighth place, while Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10 in 10th position.
Red Bull makes the most of the ‘best ICE’ debate
The FIA engine assessment has attracted particular attention because the 2026 regulations include Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities, or ADUO, designed to give manufacturers whose combustion engines fall sufficiently behind the benchmark additional opportunities to improve them.
For Red Bull, being regarded as the benchmark ICE therefore has consequences beyond bragging rights. But whatever the technical debate surrounding the relative strengths of the different Formula 1 power units, the team has at least found a way to turn the situation into unmistakably Red Bull marketing.
“Red Bull, best with ICE” might originally sound like little more than instructions for serving an energy drink. In the context of Formula 1 in 2026, it carries an entirely different meaning — and Red Bull was never likely to let the opportunity pass.
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