Encouraging message for Verstappen and Red Bull in the run-up to '26

12:18, 19 Aug

byLudo van Denderen

While Christian Horner has already left Red Bull Racing several weeks ago, the former CEO and team principal of Max Verstappen's team is still getting the credit for a daring decision.

Exciting times are on the horizon for Red Bull Racing. Starting from the 2026 season, the team - as well as sister team Racing Bulls - will drive with power unites developed and built in-house.

Historically, in Formula 1, first-time engine manufacturers can encounter quite a few initial problems, however, Juan Pablo Montoya supposes that Red Bull Powertrains' engines won't be so poor.

No doom scenario expected for Red Bull

"On the engine side Red Bull have the right people,” the former F1 driver commented during an interview on a gambling site.

"The question is: have they come together in time to build the engine?"

"I think they might surprise people with the power unit and that it might not be as bad as people think it is.”

Verstappen at the Hungarian GP, Red Bull Contentpool

Red Bull Racing is set to compete with self-built power units

Red Bull is hiring people from all over

Montoya noticed that Red Bull has snatched important knowledge from the competition. "They took all the top people from Mercedes, the top people from Ferrari, people from everywhere.”

"They have a massive amount of information. It takes time to collate and integrate.”

The Colombian however, points out a caveat to the development of the 2026 car. "The problem now for Red Bull next year is that, before, you had one guy Adrian Newey that made the final decision on what went on the car.”

"Now everybody’s coming with new ideas, everybody’s trying things."

"And at the end of the day, the guy leading the direction [Pierre Waché, technical director] is a different guy."

A shortcoming, according to Montoya, is that Red Bull has little experience in leading at the top of the organization. “You lose Christian, Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley; that’s a huge loss of leadership.”

“It’s going to take three or four years for them to come back to the dominance they had," he concluded.