Brundle praises Red Bull's 'unbelievable' 2026 engine progress

F1 commentator Martin Brundle has lauded Red Bull's power unit development for the 2026 season as "unbelievable," highlighting the team's rapid progress in creating its first in-house engine. His comments come after the new Red Bull Ford powertrain successfully completed over 500 laps during its first on-track test in Barcelona with both the Red Bull and Racing Bulls teams.

Why it matters:

Red Bull's transition from a customer to a full-fledged power unit manufacturer is one of the biggest technical stories in modern F1. Successfully developing a competitive engine from scratch is a monumental task that could solidify the team's long-term dominance or expose a critical weakness. Brundle's insider perspective suggests they are on a promising path, which could reshape the competitive order for the next era of regulations.

The details:

• Brundle based his praise on a visit to Red Bull's new engine facility in Milton Keynes over 18 months ago, where he was stunned by the scale of the operation, including its personnel, resources, and dyno testing capabilities.
• The 2026 power unit is the product of a strategic technical partnership with Ford, an alliance set to last until at least 2030.
• The engine will power both Red Bull and its sister team, Racing Bulls, providing valuable double the data from the start.
• Brundle identified Red Bull and Mercedes—who will supply four teams—as having a significant "upper hand" in 2026 due to their multi-team supply deals, which accelerate learning and development.
• He noted that Aston Martin (with Honda) and the new Audi works team face a bigger challenge operating as single-team entities.

What's next:

The true competitive picture will become clearer after the second and final pre-season test in Bahrain from February 11-13. All eyes will be on reliability and performance data as teams finalize their packages for the 2026 regulatory overhaul, where power units will play a more pivotal role than ever.