Red Bull founded Red Bull Powertrains to build their own power units after Honda decided to exit Formula 1 at the end of the 2021 season, and Christian Horner said the project is on target.
Honda are still providing their technology to Red Bull this year albeit being under the radar, as the team gears up to get their first in-house power unit ready for the new regulations set to debut in 2026, as “phenomenal talent” is being scouted and added to the team on the path of what Christian Horner dubbed as a “super-exciting project”, as quoted by F1’s official website.
“As far as our own preparation, we are on target,” the Briton claimed. “We will move into our new facility in May and the first Red Bull engine will run on the dyno by the end of the year.
“They are making great progress, it’s exciting times, it’s a super-exciting project,” the Red Bull boss added.
Red Bull have been on a hiring a hiring spree as they looked to develop their new power unit facility, poaching personnel from other teams, especially Mercedes, whose former head of engineering at Mercedes High Performance Powertrains Ben Hodgkinson, joined the Melton Keynes outfit as technical director in 2021, and was followed by five additional Mercedes staff members in key positions.
“We’ve attracted some phenomenal talent from all corners of industry,” Horner commented. “Yes, it’s a new chapter but 2026, while it seems a long way away, is actually a lot closer than you think.”
Red Bull won at Imola in 2021
As Horner spoke of the long-term future, his ace Max Verstappen was focusing on the here and now, as he looks to win again in Imola – where the first sprint race of the season will take place – and bounce back from his disappointing weekend in Australia where he finished yet again to finish the race after another reliability problem with his RB18.
“I’m looking forward to racing again this weekend in Imola,” said Verstappen. “This is obviously the first sprint race of the year so it’s important to make the most of the first practice session so we have a good understanding of where the set up needs to be for qualifying on Friday.
Red Bull, despite being on strong form in 2022, have struggled with reliability, while being unable to usurp Ferrari who are in formidable form this season.
“The team trackside and back at the factory in Milton Keynes are working incredibly hard,” the Dutchman revealed. “Hopefully we’ll have a straightforward weekend and we score some good points as a team.
“For now, we’ll take it race by race and we’ll see where we end up,” the reigning F1 Champion concluded.
Verstappen currently lies sixth in the 2022 Drivers’ Standings, 46 points down on Championship leader Charles Leclerc, as he suffered from two DNF’s in the first three races of the season.