Max Verstappen Sees Positive Start for Red Bull in F1 2026

Formula 1, Sportrik Media - Max Verstappen believes Red Bull has made a positive start to the 2026 Formula 1 season following the debut of its new car and in house power unit during the Barcelona Shakedown.

Ahead of Formula 1’s new regulation cycle, Red Bull Racing took the strategic decision to develop its own power unit after nearly two decades of works and customer engine partnerships. The project has been carried out at the dedicated Red Bull Powertrains facility in Milton Keynes, marking a major shift in the team’s technical structure.

Verstappen and his new 2026 team mate Isack Hadjar completed the first laps of the Red Bull powered RB22 during last week’s running in Spain. Both drivers delivered encouraging initial feedback, particularly regarding reliability and the amount of mileage completed with the new package.

“I think overall pretty decent,” Verstappen said as the shakedown came to an end.
“The first morning I did not get to do too many laps because of the weather, but the final day was good. I did a lot of laps and we learned a lot.”

“There are still many things we want to look into and improve, but that is normal,” he added.
“In general, with a new engine, being able to do the amount of laps that we did is very positive. It is a good start for us, but it is still very early days.”

Asked about the key takeaways from the power unit side, Verstappen underlined that the project remains a work in progress, but one that has begun on solid footing.

“It is still a work in progress, but I think we hit the ground running quite well,” he explained.
“The formula is very complicated for everyone, so there is still quite a bit of work to do, but that is normal.”

Earlier in the week, team principal Laurent Mekies praised the efforts of the entire organisation in reaching this milestone, having previously described the decision to build a power unit from scratch as an extremely ambitious challenge.

“In terms of what we expected from the power unit in these first days, I can only repeat how proud we are of everybody back at the factory,” Mekies said.
“They managed to give us something that we could actually run and start learning with.”

“Of course it is very early and nothing is perfect, but we could run, work as one team, and begin the process,” he added.
“It does not change the size of the journey ahead, but it is a moment that everyone in Milton Keynes should be proud of.”

Red Bull’s new power unit has been developed in partnership with Ford and will also be supplied to sister team Racing Bulls for the 2026 season.

With its first shakedown completed and initial mileage logged, Red Bull now turns its focus to refining performance and reliability. While Verstappen stresses that conclusions remain premature, the early signs suggest the team has laid a stable foundation ahead of the challenges posed by Formula 1’s new era.