Red Bull Racing is already turning its attention to the 2026 Formula 1 season, and team principal Christian Horner has openly admitted as much. Speaking to the media—including FormulaPassion.it—after a difficult and disappointing British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone, the British team boss revealed that Red Bull Racing is now dedicating around 90% of its development efforts to the design and preparation of the 2026 Formula 1 car.
The 2025 British Grand Prix at Silverstone ended with Max Verstappen finishing in a modest fifth position and Yuki Tsunoda, behind the wheel of the RB, finishing outside the points. Following that result, Horner gave a candid overview of the team’s technical priorities, explaining that the focus is now largely shifting to the long-term.
That does not necessarily mean the 2025 car will no longer see any improvements. According to Christian Horner, new upgrades could still be introduced in the upcoming races: “Are there more upgrades coming in the next few races? It’s possible, yes,” he stated. However, when asked more specifically about the kind of work being carried out in the wind tunnel, the team principal made it clear that the vast majority of the available development time is now allocated to the new car for the 2026 season.
“There’s still some room for components related to the 2025 car,” Horner clarified, “but yes, as the season progresses, it’s fair to say that about 90% of our current focus is on the 2026 project.”
Christian Horner Comments on Oscar Piastri’s Penalty and FIA Inconsistencies
In addition to technical matters, Christian Horner also shared his thoughts on the five-second penalty given to McLaren driver Oscar Piastri during the race. The Australian received the sanction for an aggressive maneuver during the British Grand Prix—an incident that drew parallels to a similar situation involving George Russell during the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. In that case, despite a formal protest from Red Bull Racing, George Russell escaped without any penalty.
Christian Horner echoed post-race comments made by Max Verstappen, expressing surprise not over the penalty issued to Oscar Piastri, but over the fact that George Russell had not received one for a comparable move a few weeks earlier.
“I wasn’t surprised to see a penalty handed out,” said Horner, “because that’s what we expected. What was probably more surprising was that George didn’t get one in Montreal, to be honest. But that’s how it went. Unfortunately, our race started to fall apart from that point on. That said, Max’s recovery as the track began to dry was a real positive.”
Despite the setback, Christian Horner highlighted that Red Bull Racing still had one of the fastest cars on the grid. He emphasized that the team’s decision to run a low-downforce setup—a bold choice given the unpredictable British weather—paid off during qualifying and could have delivered an even better race result under different conditions.
“If it weren’t for good old British weather,” Christian Horner concluded, “we would’ve been in a better position. The low-downforce package was a gamble, but it worked on Saturday, and the car was clearly one of the strongest once conditions started improving”
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