Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko provides an update on Red Bull’s 2026 car. The Austrians will not only start next year with a brand new chassis, but also with their first self-built engine. According to Marko, the project looks ‘promising’ so far, and the team is also making good progress with the chassis.
Red Bull is increasingly losing sight of McLaren in the constructors’ championship. The British racing team is now 324 World Championship points ahead of the Austrians, with Ferrari and Mercedes splitting the two teams in second and third place respectively. However, new opportunities lie ahead for Red Bull next year when a new regulation in motorsport comes into effect. Helmut Marko is already optimistic.
“We have come a long way, but the figures are promising,” Marko tells the Kronen Zeitung. Red Bull will not only hit the track in 2026 with a completely new chassis, but also with their first self-built engine. The Austrians are receiving help from American Ford, ‘an important partner’, according to Marko. “As a large company, they have completely different access possibilities when it comes to purchasing materials.”
“There are four components that can be decisive: the combustion engine, the battery, the fuel, and the power supply,” continues the Austrian advisor. “We are also making good progress with the chassis.” However, Marko hopes for one thing: “That we don’t see a repeat of 2014 when Mercedes suddenly had fifty to seventy more horsepower.”
Marko Spoke to Antonelli
Marko also has new information about Mercedes, as he tells F1 Insider, after a conversation with Andrea Kimi Antonelli in a hotel in Spa-Francorchamps. “I spoke briefly with Antonelli in Spa, and he said he had no confidence in the car (the W16). As soon as he demands too much from the car, he loses control,” reveals the Red Bull executive. “It seems that with his car it is just as important to be in the right working window as it is with ours. When the car does work, it has much more potential, and for a driver like George Russell, that’s a bit easier.”
