Max Verstappen‘s path to future F1 titles is about to face its biggest shake-up yet. The three-time world champion, who’s won all his championships with Honda power, might need to adapt to something completely different in 2026.
That’s when Red Bull Racing will debut their own engine for the first time ever.
It’s a massive gamble for the team that’s dominated F1 recently. They’re saying goodbye to Honda after 2024 and betting big on their own power unit, developed with Ford’s help.
“In four years, we built a factory and developed an engine from scratch,” says team boss Christian Horner. But he’s not getting carried away with expectations.
The challenge? They’re up against teams with decades of engine-building experience. Ferrari’s been at it for 75 years, while Mercedes’ engine division has 30 years under its belt.
“The mountain that we have to climb is immense,” Horner admits.
But he’s not backing down from what he calls “by far the biggest challenge we’ve taken on in Formula 1.” The team’s already hard at work on their new engine, even with Honda still powering their cars through next season.
Red Bull’s got the right people and the spirit to make it work, according to Horner. But there’s no guarantee they’ll match their current dominance when they switch to their own engines.
For Verstappen, who’s expected to stay with the team through this transition, it could mean the difference between adding more titles to his impressive run or facing an entirely new kind of challenge.
