Red Bull’s decision to develop its own Formula 1 engine is paying off in 2026, with the manufacturer’s internal combustion engine (ICE) emerging as the benchmark in the FIA’s Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) assessments. The latest review has not changed the additional development opportunities available to rival manufacturers, strengthening the case for the ambitious project championed by Christian Horner. However, the assessment concerns the combustion engine specifically and does not automatically establish which manufacturer has the best overall power unit.
It is nevertheless a significant achievement for an organisation that accepted an enormous industrial risk. Red Bull wanted to end its dependence on the decisions of an external engine supplier. Honda’s announced withdrawal opened the door to a new approach, with the Milton Keynes operation choosing to establish its own power-unit division, subsequently supported by Ford.
Why Red Bull’s decision to build its own F1 engine is paying off
Development of the 2026 Formula 1 engine projects began in 2022. Red Bull’s current position is therefore the result of several years of work, during which the organisation had to develop not only a competitive power unit but also the infrastructure and expertise required to manufacture, test and operate it.
The recruitment campaign was particularly aggressive. Numerous engine specialists arrived from Mercedes and Honda, while others were recruited from Ferrari. Building the necessary facilities was essential, but assembling a workforce capable of designing, testing, diagnosing and improving an engine was even more important.
Bringing together specialists with different technical backgrounds and making their expertise work within a single organisation became a decisive part of the investment.
Honda’s serious difficulties in 2026 make Red Bull’s decision appear even more successful by comparison. However, the benefits extend beyond the problems experienced by its former partner. By controlling its own engine programme, Red Bull can directly influence one of the most important performance factors under the new Formula 1 regulations.
How Red Bull improved its 2026 F1 power unit without hardware upgrades
Understanding the power unit has become crucial to making progress under the 2026 regulations. The combustion engine’s output remains important, but overall performance also depends on recovering energy, maintaining the battery within the correct operating conditions and deploying electrical power where it provides the greatest benefit.
Inefficient management of these elements can waste some of the performance already available from the system.
Red Bull has demonstrated that performance gains do not necessarily require new components. By developing a deeper understanding of its own power unit and optimising the relationship between the combustion engine and the battery, the team has managed to extract more performance from the same hardware.
This has meant delivering more energy at the most useful points around the circuit, reducing compromises elsewhere on the lap and improving the power unit’s response to the driver’s requirements.
Having the chassis and power unit developed within the same overall project makes this process easier. Engineers can investigate the origin of a problem together, identify the limitations of individual components and implement improvements with a clearer understanding of how the complete car operates.
Ford’s contribution to the combustion engine, battery and control systems forms part of this integrated development approach.
Why customer F1 teams face a disadvantage under the 2026 regulations
Customer teams, by contrast, have encountered problems that are considerably more difficult to resolve immediately. McLaren has also faced significant challenges in understanding and managing its power unit.
Simply having access to a competitive engine does not guarantee that a team can immediately extract its full potential. Engineers must identify the limitation, communicate with the power-unit supplier and develop a solution that works with the characteristics of their own chassis.
This process takes time. A customer team may recognise a problem through its on-track data, but resolving it requires cooperation with the organisation that designed and controls the power unit.
A manufacturer enjoys a more direct connection between diagnosing a problem and implementing a solution, an advantage that becomes particularly valuable during the first year of a major technical regulation change.
Racing Bulls has also enjoyed an encouraging season, with its engineers benefiting from an arrangement that effectively gives the team advantages beyond those of a conventional engine customer.
Ferrari’s 2026 F1 engine deficit highlights the importance of manufacturer independence
Ferrari provides another example of the value of developing and controlling an entire power unit, even when the combustion engine begins the season with a performance deficit.
In the FIA’s first ADUO assessment, Ferrari’s internal combustion engine was classified in the category more than 4% behind the reference performance level, alongside Audi and Honda. The precise performance gaps established by subsequent assessments remain confidential.
The latest review nevertheless preserved Ferrari’s opportunities for additional engine development under the ADUO system, offering the Maranello manufacturer a way to address its remaining disadvantage.
Importantly, the combustion engine deficit does not tell the complete story of a manufacturer’s overall power-unit performance. The effectiveness of the hybrid system and its energy management can significantly influence how much of the available performance reaches the track.
How Ferrari recovered performance through hybrid software optimisation
Despite starting from a disadvantaged position, Ferrari has managed to limit the consequences by improving its hybrid energy management throughout the 2026 season.
Progressive optimisation of the control algorithm has improved the way electrical energy is used, allowing the Scuderia to recover performance without eliminating the underlying combustion engine deficit.
The missing horsepower has remained a limitation, but Ferrari’s status as a power-unit manufacturer has given its engineers the tools to respond directly. By refining the interaction between the combustion engine, battery and electrical deployment, the team has been able to extract more performance from the available hardware.
That flexibility has helped prevent a challenging season from becoming considerably more complicated, demonstrating the importance of the technical development work behind Ferrari’s SF-26.
The contrast between Red Bull and Ferrari is particularly revealing. One manufacturer has established the combustion engine benchmark, while the other has worked to compensate for a power deficit through improvements in hybrid efficiency. Both demonstrate why direct control over power-unit development matters under the 2026 regulations.
Why Red Bull’s engine gamble has delivered a major long-term advantage
Red Bull accepted the considerable risk of building an entire engine operation from scratch. It now possesses a benchmark internal combustion engine and the ability to develop its complete power unit according to the specific requirements of its Formula 1 car.
The most important benefit of becoming an engine manufacturer is therefore not limited to the initial performance of the hardware. It is the ability to control development decisions, understand the complete system and turn technical knowledge into measurable performance improvements more quickly.
In a regulation cycle where energy recovery, battery management and electrical deployment are fundamental to competitiveness, that independence has become one of Red Bull’s most valuable advantages.
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