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Red Bull’s collaboration with Ford to design their own Formula 1 power unit took everyone by surprise, most notably Ferrari and Red Bull’s current boss, Laurent Mekies.
The Frenchman left Ferrari in the summer of 2023. Earlier that year, Red Bull had announced that they would be parting ways with Honda and would design their own power unit through Red Bull Powertrains, in partnership with Ford, from 2026.
Naturally, this presented a huge task for the Milton Keynes outfit, as unlike other manufacturers, they would have to design the engine from scratch. Now under Mekies’ leadership, Red Bull have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to perfect the power unit.
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The progress the team have made has been a huge surprise to many teams in the paddock. Many Red Bull rivals agree that their power unit is strong in 2026.
Red Bull also caught Zak Brown by surprise in pre-season testing, as the McLaren boss was taken aback by its reliability. The team have come a long way since the announcement back in 2023, which Mekies recalls left Ferrari stunned.
Laurent Mekies and Ferrari could not believe Red Bull’s ‘crazy’ decision to start an engine division
Speaking on the Beyond The Grid podcast, Mekies remembered how Ferrari staff reacted to Red Bull’s news for the 2026 season and regulations. Of course, he did not know then that he would be spearheading that operation.
“Actually, I still remember being at Ferrari when the decision of Red Bull doing their own power unit with Ford at the time was made public,” he said.
“And we looked at each other and we said, ‘Wow, how difficult that must be to start from zero’. Because we were saying, ‘Look, we are having our own meeting to talk about the next generation of power unit that we will all have to design and produce’.
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“And then when we leave the meeting room, we go back to the department and the department starts working on this project, and said, ‘These guys, they have to build it from scratch’.
“They may have the meetings together to decide what they want to do next, but certainly when they go back to their department, there is nothing there yet. And we said, how crazy that must be.
“So, to your questions about how different it is. Even though it’s only us and Ferrari now having both power unit and chassis on the same site, the projects are completely different because one has been doing it for 90 years and we have been doing it for 90 days.
“Maybe not 90 days, but for three years now and for not even 90 days in racing, that’s how different and difficult it is.”
READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull team principal and CEO Laurent Mekies
Ferrari are demanding answers from the FIA about Red Bull’s 2026 car
While Red Bull’s power unit is understood to be strong, the team are having other issues with the RB22. After three races, they are sitting sixth in the standings behind Haas and Alpine as they struggle to maximise performance.
Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar offer different feedback to Red Bull on the car, which is to be expected. The former is looking to help the team improve the package with his experience, while the latter is looking to find a feeling from the car.
The start to the season has not been good for the Milton Keynes outfit. So much so, that some people at Red Bull want to scrap the RB22 and design a new package, but while they are not positive about it internally, their rivals are seeing tricks.
Ferrari want answers from the FIA in regards to the MGU-K, as Red Bull and Mercedes have been found to utilise it during qualifying to better performance. The Maranello outfit have scored three P3 finishes thus far in 2026, while Red Bull are without a podium.
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