Horner excited by Red Bull's 'biggest challenge'

When the new Formula 1 season gets under way in Australia this weekend, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner will be in the unusual position of being involved in two races, not one.

As well as trying to maintain the team's dominance of the sport, which has brought Max Verstappen four successive drivers' titles, he is also overseeing progress towards a fully integrated chassis and engine business for 2026.

With their agreement with Honda coming to an end this season, Red Bull are bringing engine construction in-house at their Milton Keynes headquarters to meet the challenge of new F1 regulations next year.

"For me, this next chapter is truly exciting. It's by far our biggest challenge, not for the weak hearted, it's going to be an epic journey and one I'm relishing and looking forward to," he told BBC Look East prior to departing for Melbourne.

"We've had tremendous success designing and manufacturing our own chassis and working with different engine suppliers, with Renault and latterly Honda, but it felt this was the right time with this new set of engine regulations (for 2026) to take control of our own destiny and hand build our own engine.

"It's a race against the clock because this time next year those engines will be sitting in our Grand Prix cars."

Next year F1 cars will be 30kg lighter, 10cm narrower, use fully sustainable fuels and have hybrid engines with both electric and internal combustion power.

Some drivers have expressed concerns about the changes, including Sir Lewis Hamilton and fellow Brit Lando Norris, who said last summer: "There is going to be another change just as the sport gets exciting again. I guess there are reasons for it but I don't want it to go the opposite way."

Back in 2023, Red Bull Powertrains announced a new partnership deal with Ford to help develop their own engines, the latter's first factory involvement in F1 since 2004.

And it means that they are emulating Ferrari, in having their hi-tech chassis and engine construction taking place under one roof in readiness for next year.

"There's an awful lot riding on it and to expect us to go out there and exceed the performance levels of our competitors would be somewhat naive I think," said Horner.

"This is a long-term commitment to this team, to Formula 1, to ensure we've got control of our own destiny, so if a manufacturer decides to leave the sport, then we're not beholden to that."

The 51-year-old believes next year's changes will be a "seismic shift" for F1.

"It's a complete re-set. Forget everything you knew previously. These regulations are a totally white sheet of paper. Not one single component will carry over.

"We're just racing against time, we've got great people, we've got an incredible culture here, we've got great facilities, it's purely a race against time for that first race in 2026."

'We are doing stuff outside the box'

Red Bull head of power unit ops Steve Brodie — Head of power unit ops Steve Brodie says Red Bull's early engine designs are now "old news" [BBC]

Overseeing the engine side of the business is head of power unit ops Steve Brodie, who joined Red Bull from Mercedes in 2021.

He says they have made "mind-blowing" progress since he first walked into a temporary build shop with a tin roof four years ago.

"We have to hit our targets. In terms of performance upgrades, we have to see what's good, bad and put it into the next engines. It's like a science lab, we look at so much data," said Brodie.

"It takes two weeks to build an engine. No engine is the same. We are all about performance and reliability. I pull in different engine builders, and we are doing stuff outside the box. You need different ideas.

"These engines only need one flaw, one mistake, and so you have to put in a certain margin (for error). Every tweak, the amount of components we have, the changes have been enormous. It's been relentless."

It is highly skilled and to some extent, secret, work.

Any visitors to the Red Bull factory are never given the "full story", according to head of test operations Florian Niehaves.

"The way we are doing things is a unique way. There is benefit of saying this is a blank canvas, how do we get to there," he said.

"It couldn't be more hi tech, it's close to defence, aerospace, the tools we are using regarding AI is top level. It's also old-fashioned engine development, testing mechanical stuff; combined it's an energetic mix."

Red Bull 'full of motivation' for 2025

Liam Lawson and Max Verstappen — Liam Lawson is world champion Max Verstappen's fifth team-mate for Red Bull [Getty Images]

While that is all going on in Milton Keynes, there is the small matter of the 2025 season for Red Bull to think about, with a packed calendar of 24 races.

There is a change behind the wheel with New Zealander Liam Lawson, 23, replacing Sergio Perez as champion Verstappen's team-mate.

Horner said: "He's young but mentally strong, he's a quick driver, a fast learner, he's only done 11 races and it's a big step for him to make - particularly to be Max's team-mate - but his goals and objectives are clear."

Horner is confident Red Bull will rise to the challenge after a few "sticky moments" in 2024, and despite the absence of brilliant designer Adrian Newey, who switched allegiance to Aston Martin by signing a five-year contract said to be worth up to a possible £30m a year.

"Last year we won more than double the number of races of any other team," he noted. "When you gauge it against previous seasons, it didn't quite live up to winning all bar one race in '23. And we didn't score consistently with both cars in the constructors' championship and that hurt us significantly in that standing.

"This team is full of motivation for the season ahead. We don't underestimate the level of competition there will be from McLaren and Ferrari and Mercedes and who knows who else.

"But there's a real resoluteness within this team to go out there and try and retain that number one on the car in the final year of this current set of regulations.

"We've got nothing really to prove. We've broken all the records in Formula 1 in terms of the most wins in a year, the most points, the most poles, it's only that inner motivation and drive that burns within this team that we're never looking backwards, always looking forwards."

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