Max Verstappen Admits Red Bull’s 2026 Engine Isn’t Ready Yet

Max Verstappen made a shocking confession that Red Bull's power unit wasn't fully developed yet and would need some more time.

Max Verstappen Admits Red Bull’s 2026 Engine Isn’t Ready Yet

Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)

The 2026 season of Formula 1 is bound to present a new challenge for the teams and drivers. The power unit development will certainly be a massive challenge, more so for Red Bull as they develop their own engines in collaboration with Ford. As such, Max Verstappen made a shocking acceptance that Milton Keynes wasn’t ready with the engine yet and still needed more development.

Max Verstappen was able to achieve decent results over the private test session held in Barcelona recently. Isack Hadjar‘s crash meant that the team wasn’t able to maximize on learnings over the sessions. Moreover, the team has finally ended their collaboration with Honda for the engine, as they develop their own engines with Ford.

Understandably, the team is managing expectations and not aiming to start dominating from the get-go. Even Max Verstappen is aware of the impending challenge in terms of performance against the rival. Speaking on the development so far, Verstappen accepted that it was still a work in progress. However, he reckoned that the team had hit the ground running pretty well, and it turned out to be better than they imagined.

Max Verstappen noted that the regulations were still a ‘complicated formula’ for the teams, as none of them were the clear favorite yet. The Dutchman added that there was still a lot of work pending, but it was completely normal. The first race is still a couple of months away, and the teams can work on their challenger until then. For now, the aim will be to take in great learning over the public testing in Bahrain a couple of weeks later.

Still work in progress, but I think we’ve hit the ground running quite well with those things, It’s still a very complicated formula for everyone, there’s still quite a bit of work to do, but that’s normal.

Max Verstappen told Formula 1.

Max Verstappen reveals ’emotional faces’ following successful Red Bull power unit debut

Red Bull has been working on their power unit project for quite some time now. The deal with Ford was already announced a couple of years back. However, the capabilities of the engine were unknown, as they had to go up against the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari. Still, the pre-season test has proved that the power unit is certainly capable and can provide a tough fight for the rivals.

Gianpiero Lambiase and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)
Gianpiero Lambiase and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)

Max Verstappen revealed that it was an emotional ordeal for many people in the team as they had been actively working on the power unit project. As such, seeing their hard efforts of so many years come to fruition was a big deal for them. The fact that Verstappen was able to finish so many laps on the very first day of testing, it was a true testament to the team’s success as an engine works team. For now, the remainder of the time will be spent on maximizing learning on the challenger.

So much work has gone into over the last few years; and then to see the engine going into the car, and especially on the first day, also immediately to do so many laps, was great to see. I think there were a lot of emotional faces in the garage.

Max Verstappen said via Verstappen.com.

Red Bull understands that it won’t be achieving the picture-perfect start to the season and win against Ferrari and Mercedes in terms of power unit development. However, Max Verstappen’s crucial role with the team will certainly help them gain learnings early on. Time will tell about how the power unit and challenger perform against the rivals.

Read More: Lewis Hamilton Says Ferrari’s 2026 Start Is Already Better Than Last Year