Toto Wolff’s assessment of Red Bull’s 2026 engine could seriously worry Max Verstappen

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One of the ongoing sagas during the 2025 Formula 1 season was whether Mercedes boss Toto Wolff could convince Max Verstappen to leave Red Bull Racing.

Ultimately, Max Verstappen committed his future to Red Bull for another year despite his run of four consecutive drivers’ championships coming to an end.

Verstappen has since suggested he won’t leave Red Bull before the end of his contract at the end of 2028, but things didn’t always look that certain last year.

Mercedes were heavily linked with Verstappen last season as Toto Wolff tried to bring in the 28-year-old more than a decade after first trying to sign him.

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It left George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli wondering when they would be able to agree on new contracts with Mercedes as the Silver Arrows explored their options in the driver market.

One of the reasons Verstappen didn’t want to leave Red Bull was due to the uncertainty surrounding the new regulations.

Nobody knows who will have the most powerful car, but journalist Ronald Vording has shared what Wolff privately thought about Red Bull’s chances, and specifically, Red Bull Powertrains, midway through last year.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Mercedes F1 CEO and team principal Toto Wolff

Toto Wolff joked Red Bull’s 2026 engine wouldn’t be good during Max Verstappen pursuit

Vording was a guest on the James Allen on F1 Podcast and speaking about Red Bull’s chances next year, he explained: “I have two things to pick up on.

“Well, first, going back to the Toto roundtable [at Zandvoort], it was funny because, of course, he mentioned the customer teams.

“And then he also mentioned Ferrari, he also mentioned Aston Martin. And then we say, well, you forgot one. You didn’t mention Red Bull, and you didn’t mention Red Bull Powertrains.

“And he said, apologies for the language, but he said, oh, yeah, they are going to be s—.

“Which, of course, was a joke. But he was joking that they have at least Mount Everest to climb.

“And I think that’s a fair assessment. But with Mercedes, I would say they have two potential advantages.

“The first one is that they are a factory team. So in terms of packaging, they probably have an advantage over McLaren.

“The second one is yes, they didn’t get it right with the ground effect cars, but Toto was quite open about it and said, yeah, we never fully maybe understood the dynamics of these regulations as much as we wanted.

“And the regulations for 2026 are completely different and not so much dependent on the ground effect anymore. So maybe it suits them a little bit better.”

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

Red Bull Powertrains holds the key to Max Verstappen’s 2026 championship chances

Many people believe that the upcoming Formula 1 season will be dominated by the teams with the best power units.

Red Bull and Mercedes might have found a loophole, but there are a whole host of factors that could come into play before determining that they will be the teams to beat.

Since starting the Powertrains project, Red Bull have poached staff from Mercedes and Honda, arguably the two best engine providers of the past few years.

If Red Bull can keep up with their more experienced rivals in this department, then there’s no reason why Verstappen can’t be a title contender.

Even without the likes of Adrian Newey and Rob Marshall, Red Bull should still be able to build a decent car.

And Verstappen has already proven that he’s talented enough to make up a small deficit to any of his rivals.