Christian Horner shares why the ‘biggest challenge’ Red Bull have ever faced is coming next year

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Red Bull Racing started the 2024 Formula 1 season as the favourites to win both championships.

Max Verstappen had won 19 races the previous season and even Sergio Perez’s form dipping halfway through the campaign wasn’t enough for the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to catch him in the Drivers’ Championship.

The 2024 season started as expected as well, with Verstappen winning five of the first seven races, and Perez joining him on the podium on four occasions.

Then the table turned at the Miami Grand Prix when Lando Norris won his first Grand Prix and McLaren haven’t looked back since.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

They’ve taken the lead in the Constructors’ Championship and while Verstappen has extracted as much performance out of his difficult-to-drive RB20, Perez has floundered.

Team principal Christian Horner has admitted that he believes he knows what the problem is, but all eyes are on Red Bull’s car at the United States Grand Prix to see whether or not that’s the case.

Horner was speaking to Autosport and admitted that while this season has proven to be a challenge, a much more difficult task is on the horizon.

In 2026, Formula 1 introduces its next set of regulations and sweeping changes are being made to several fundamental aspects of the sport.

The most eye-catching update is the power units, and Red Bull will be building their own alongside Ford for the first time.

Horner has admitted that the development of their engine will be the ‘biggest challenge’ the team has faced for multiple reasons.

Christian Horner admits 2026 engine will be Red Bull’s ‘biggest challenge’

Asked about the development of their first power unit, Horner said: “It is by far our biggest challenge.

“We’ve created a start-up business, aggressively recruited 600 people into it, built a factory, put in the process and brought a group of people together to work within a Red Bull culture that has been so successful on the chassis side.

“Of course, many have come from other teams, competitors and suppliers in F1, and that’s a massive undertaking to get 600 people and all your processes, your supply chain, everything geared up to deliver for two teams in ’26.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

“We also have the benefit of a great partner in Ford Motor Company and that relationship is working very well. But inevitably there will be short-term pain, but there is a long-term gain of having everything under one roof with engineers.

“We’ve already seen the benefit and the difference of having chassis and engine engineers sitting essentially next to each other as we start to integrate the ‘26 engine into the ‘26 car.”

Martin Brundle has already had his say on the Red Bull Powertrains project

Red Bull aren’t the only team developing their first F1 engine for the 2026 season, with Audi also making their debut as a power unit supplier and manufacturer.

They’ve got a much lower base to start from with Sauber yet to score a point this season and their employees still spread across multiple countries.

Martin Brundle was left impressed by a visit to Red Bull Powertrains this year and that should give the team confidence that they’ve got the platform to be successful during the next era of the sport.

However, if Mercedes nail their power unit, then all of a sudden, nearly half of the grid will be ahead of Red Bull during the opening weekends of the season.