Red Bull have the most ‘competitive paranoia’ heading into the 2026 F1 season after testing

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Red Bull Racing have plenty to be getting excited about after pre-season testing, but that doesn’t mean they’re not paranoid about what the rest of the paddock is doing between now and the Australian Grand Prix.

Nobody knew what the Red Bull power unit would be like ahead of its on-track debut during F1 testing.

Honda have demonstrated how badly wrong a manufacturer can get the new spec engines, but Red Bull Powertrains appear to have done a brilliant job building their maiden power unit.

Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar looked very competitive in Bahrain, with the Dutchman among the quickest drivers, as you would expect him to be, regardless of the car he’s in.

While Ferrari’s engine struggled with its drivers dropping into first gear to help recharge the engine, it appears as though Red Bull designed their power unit and gearbox to cope with this well.

Ted Kravitz suggested Verstappen had already perfected the technique; however, journalist Mark Hughes still believes that Red Bull might be the most paranoid team on the grid heading to Melbourne in less than two weeks.

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

Red Bull have the most ‘competitive paranoia’ heading into the 2026 Formula 1 season

Hughes was speaking on the Motor Sport Magazine podcast during the testing period and explained: “Yeah, there’s always a level of competitive paranoia among the participants in F1, but it’s quite intense at the moment, more so than usual even. It’s quite intriguing.”

When asked who would win out of all of the teams for being the most paranoid, Hughes said: “Probably Red Bull at the moment!”

Which driver will be the biggest disappointment of 2026, other than the Aston Martin duo?

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Hughes then spoke about the departure of chief designer Craig Skinner from Red Bull and continued: “I think you have strength and depth in these teams, and I think they said he’s not going to be replaced. They’re not recruiting to replace him.

“They’re just going to promote from within. I think we had a similar question regarding Aston Martin or Mercedes in one of the previous episodes.

“It’s not ideal when a key figure is gone, but it’s usually smoothed over quite quickly.

“You’ve got a team of a thousand people that are all very, very clever and highly qualified and all very used to working within their system.

“So, I don’t think it’ll be a disaster, but it’s something that could probably have done without.”

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

Laurent Mekies previews the 2026 Formula 1 season with Red Bull after testing

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies oversaw an uptick in performance when he took over from Christian Horner halfway through last season that nearly led to Verstappen winning a fifth consecutive championship.

Although Mekies refused to take credit for any of Red Bull’s success, this year is an entirely new prospect as he would have had months to prepare for F1’s new era and will know that if Red Bull don’t perform, Verstappen’s long-term future with the team is in doubt.

The issue Red Bull have is that Mercedes were likely hiding some engine performance in testing to reduce the scrutiny of their power unit, with Ferrari appearing to have built an engine that’s perfect for race starts.

This combination would make it difficult for Red Bull to compete for wins initially, but reflecting on testing, Mekies explained in his official post-test debrief: “For the sport as a whole, the three sessions across Barcelona and Bahrain have been fascinating from so many different perspectives – the PU technology, the fuel, the aero, different tyre sizes and, as always at the heart of it all, the drivers leading the narrative as to what these cars are like on track. I believe interest in F1 by the time we get to Melbourne will be off the charts.

“For our part, those first sessions in Barcelona were a source of relief and pride, especially in terms of what we have managed to achieve so far with the very first Red Bull Ford Powertrains PU.

“Performance? Even with all our technology and simulation tools, everyone will only start to get a partial idea of the pecking order down the pit lane after Saturday’s qualifying session in Albert Park.

“Next, we go racing. We know we have a lot of very hard work ahead of us to be at the level we want to be. That’s our next mountain to climb, and all of us will be climbing it together as one Team”.