Max Verstappen’s early verdict on Red Bull’s eye-catching 2026 F1 engine

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen says Red Bull has made “a good start” with its new engine, having already caught the eyes of its rivals.

Red Bull comes into the new regulations cycle having built its own power unit for the first in partnership with US motoring giant Ford.

Ahead of the Barcelona shakedown at the end of last month, there was some doubt about where Red Bull would be with its new engine.

But early feedback from surprised rivals, particularly Mercedes, suggests Red Bull has hit the ground running with its new engine.

The 2026 Red Bull managed a considerable amount of mileage and strong reliability at the behind-closed-doors Barcelona test, with Max Verstappen cautiously enthused afterwards.

“I think, overall, pretty decent,” Verstappen told the official F1 website when asked about the Barcelona shakedown with the RB22.

“The first morning, I didn’t get too many laps, also with the weather basically.

“But [the last day] was good. I did a lot of laps, we learned a lot. Still a lot of things that we want to look into and do better, but that’s normal, I guess.

“In general, with the new engine, to do the amount of laps that we did is very nice and it’s a good start for us.

“So, positive, but it’s still very early days.

“Still a work in progress, but I think we’ve hit the ground running quite well with those things.

“It’s still a very complicated formula, I think, for everyone, so there’s still quite a bit of work to do. But that’s normal.”

It wasn’t a fully straightforward test for Red Bull at Barcelona, with its run plan interrupted by a heavy crash for Isack Hadjar on the second day of running.

As a result, Red Bull was forced to sit tight for a day while it waited for new parts to arrive from its Milton Keynes base.

Prior to his crash, Hadjar told the F1 website: “We have only minor issues [on the first day], so it’s quite impressive considering it’s our first day with our own engine. It was definitely smooth.

“It doesn’t feel too far off what I’m used to, at least in my first season, on all of the upshifts and downshifts.

“There are still a few things to tweak around, of course, but it’s solid.”

Pre-season testing continues next week from 11-13 February at Bahrain, with another following on 18-20 February before the season begins properly in Australia on 6-8 March.