Red Bull is attacking the 2025 season in full “Max Attack” mode, continuing to roll out updates for Max Verstappen’s RB21 with the aim of finishing second in the Constructors’ Championship — and perhaps even keeping a distant eye on the Drivers’ title, despite Verstappen trailing Oscar Piastri by 63 points at the top. However, focusing on this season does not mean the team is slowing down for 2026. In a surprising development, Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché has, for the first time, spoken very positively about the feedback from the Red Bull-Ford power unit that will debut next year.
Questions around the Red Bull-Ford power unit
The new turbo V6 (super) hybrid engine has been the main point of uncertainty, which led Max Verstappen to explore options over recent months before confirming his commitment to Red Bull at least through 2026 under a contract running until the end of 2028. While Red Bull has been officially a power unit constructor since 2022, after Honda handed over key technical knowledge, the real leap will come in 2026. That’s when the team will finally deploy a V6 engine fully designed and developed in-house by the Anglo-Austrian outfit, rather than merely managing the Japanese V6s through its recently founded Powertrains division.
Pierre Waché speaks out
Given that the technical regulations are still not fully defined and ongoing discussions continue to refine the new rules, questions about the competitiveness of a completely new engine like the Red Bull-Ford are natural. Pierre Waché, however, addressed these doubts in an interview with RacingNews365. He said, “Regarding the engine, it’s hard to say right now, but it looks very, very promising. The chassis side is different — with completely new aerodynamic rules, it’s hard to tell. There’s still a lot to discover, and it’s complicated to know what ideas the others will bring. Normally, you learn a lot when you see the other cars for the first time, because you try to understand what your rivals are doing. I hope to be able to say that we’re on the right track, but you never know.”
Pierre Waché added, discussing the decision to continue pushing in 2025, “This is very important for next year, because everything we understand now will be useful in 2026, at least regarding what the driver needs, even though we’ll have different regulations. Of course, anything taken from next year’s project development could have a small impact, but just to clarify, everything we will bring to the track later this year was developed well in advance. It’s not a decision Red Bull made yesterday.”
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