Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
Red Bull Racing have impressed many people in the paddock with their new hybrid power unit, but whether it can withstand 24 race weekends is yet to be seen.
The 2026 F1 season has seen two new power unit manufacturers join the grid in the form of Audi and Red Bull Powertrains.
Audi have far more experience across different motorsport disciplines, but Red Bull have 20 years of competing in Formula 1 under their belt to aid their development.
What’s your podium prediction for the Australian Grand Prix? 🇦🇺
Let us know in the comments below!
Laurent Mekies’ team immediately impressed many of their rivals with their performance in the shakedown in Barcelona and then pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Johnny Herbert has hailed Red Bull’s new engine, while Mercedes rival George Russell talked up the Red Bull power unit after the first day of running at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Technical expert Gary Anderson and journalist Edd Straw have been discussing the development of the DM01, but believe that Red Bull might have prioritised performance over reliability this season.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links
Red Bull’s ‘culture’ means 2026 engine has prioritised performance over reliability
Anderson was speaking about Red Bull’s progress on The Race F1 Tech Show, and he explained: “So Red Bull technologies have had a serious input into the last couple of years of Formula 1 engines.
“So they’re not starting from nothing. They’re starting from a fairly well-known foothold. So, it’s one of these things.
“If their simulation tools are better than other simulation tools at working out exactly where you want that power, where you want to harvest it, where you want to use it, then fine, they may be a second a lap quicker down the straights.
Will anyone suffer the same fate as these disastrous F1 cars at this year’s Australian GP? 😬
Let us know in the comments below!
“But as an overall lap time, it’s still going to be down to the balancing act of power usage against power harvesting.
“And that, as they say, the beginning of this really for me is the thing that’s blind to any viewer, enthusiast, everybody. It’s just blind. You don’t know what’s going on.
“There’s nothing on the screen that tells you at this point in time anyway.
Straw replied: “I think incidentally on Red Bull Powertrains, one of the things that they appear to have done is they’re very much taking that Red Bull team culture of being super aggressive on the power unit design approach.
“And I think there’s a slightly higher tolerance for allowing unreliability in pursuit of performance, then you can improve the reliability.
“That does seem to be a slight culture thing that they’ve got going on there.”
READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull team principal and CEO Laurent Mekies
Max Verstappen hails ‘very positive’ performance of Red Bull’s 2026 power unit
If Max Verstappen is going to challenge for his fifth drivers’ championship this season, then he needs Red Bull’s new engine to be powerful and reliable.
Verstappen’s finishing record as a Red Bull driver is remarkable, as he only suffered two retirements due to car issues in the last four seasons.
Interestingly, those failures both happened in Australia, and the 28-year-old will be hoping to avoid a repeat of those issues this weekend.
Speaking about Red Bull’s new engine during pre-season testing, Verstappen said: “For everyone to see the new car and engine together, it’s like their little baby!
“And like I said, it’s still a lot to learn, but I think we’re heading in the right direction.
“Of course, there are still things we want to do better, for sure. I think we’ll never be satisfied but, like I said, at least we’re not breaking down.
“I think that no one really expected that from the start that we would go out of the garage without exploding! That has been very positive.”
Red Bull know that they need to give Verstappen a competitive package this season, with other teams desperate to try and sign him, and the four-time world champion admitting he’s not a fan of the new cars.
Whether Red Bull’s approach to developing their power unit is a gamble or not will only come to pass as the campaign goes on.
Receive exclusive F1 news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
