Red Bull Chief Reveals Honda's Biggest Struggle Ahead Of Partnership Split

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has praised power unit supplier Honda for its strong competitive spirit and ability to develop high-performance engines in the new era of regulations in 2026 as well as revealing their biggest struggle. The statement arrives as the Milton Keynes outfit enters its last year of partnership with Honda.
The Japanese power unit manufacturer will part ways with Red Bull and collaborate with Aston Martin next year. Red Bull, on the other hand, will produce its own power units in collaboration with Ford under Red Bull Powertrains. The big reset involves a major overhaul of power units, which will be powered by an equal ratio of electric power and internal combustion.
Honda partnered with Red Bull in 2019 after a season with its junior team, VCARB (formerly Toro Rosso), before officially withdrawing in 2021. However, it returned the following year in a reduced capacity, and Red Bull continued to use Honda's power units.
With the 2026 power units anticipated to bring many challenges for F1 teams, Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) president Koji Watanabe recently opened up on its new power unit project with the Silverstone outfit, suggesting that the road has not been smooth. He said:
“Not so easy. We are struggling. Now we are trying our best to show the result next year.”
Speaking further on the challenges, he said:
“Everything is new.
"The motor is a new 355-kW, very compact one we need. Also the lightweight battery, it’s not so easy to develop. And also the small engine with the big power.
“Everything is very difficult, but we try our best.”
However, Horner has shared his faith in Honda's ability to create strong power units from personal experience, as it contributed significantly to Red Bull's dominance in the current ground effect era. Responding to reports about Honda's struggles, he said:
"It is a big challenge, I mean they disbanded their project and then restarted it again.
"They may well have lost a little bit of time through that, but they're a very capable company and they've got great strength.
"I am sure they'll have a competitive power unit come 2026."
Speaking about Red Bull's 2026 power unit development, the team boss suggested that challenges were bound to arrive for a company building engines for the first time from scratch. He added:
"You always want more time, but it is a big challenge for us, producing our own engine from scratch, a start-up company, but we're doing well.
"Of course, you never know what your opponents are doing, it is a big challenge, but for us, it is the right move."