Grand Prix

Why Racing Bulls Gives Red Bull-Ford An Advantage Over Audi And Honda

Is this a crucial point heading into Formula 1 testing?
Ewan Gale|
Red Bull Content Pool

Formula 1 is back with the reveal of Red Bull and Racing Bulls liveries in Detroit, Michigan to kick off launch season.

Both teams took the covers off their new color scheme late on Thursday night [January 15], though the cars to be driven during the new campaign won't be publicly revealed until after the first pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which is a behind-closed-doors affair at the end of the month.

The location of the launch was significant - the home of new power unit partner Ford - with the task faced by the new powertrain manufacturer nothing short of a mountain to climb.

Racing Bulls 2026 launch Detroit
Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Red Bull-Ford will be up against incumbent OEMs Mercedes and Ferrari, the returning Honda and new entry Audi, all while creating its own in-house engine division on campus in Milton Keynes, England.

While Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda all have recent experience in the manufacturing of F1 power units, Red Bull-Ford and Audi face the daunting prospect of having to go toe-to-toe in what is expected to be a challenging first encounter with new engine regulations.

But Racing Bulls can provide Red Bull with a key advantage over Audi - and indeed Honda - as development takes shape into the future of the ruleset.

Red Bull's extra set of hands

Upgrades for power units are strictly regulated by F1's governing body, the FIA, but that doesn't mean the engines used at the Australian Grand Prix will be frozen until the end of 2030.

Reliability upgrades are permitted for safety reasons, while there is a mechanism in the regulations to allow lagging manufacturers to catch up to the competition if there is a clear disparity in power unit performance - again, strictly regulated.

There is also scope to develop engines for the following seasons, though homologation dates will lock in designs ahead of the first races of the campaign.

So in this season of discovery with the new power units, Honda will get only two sample points from the two Aston Martin cars; likewise, Audi from its works machines.

Yet for Red Bull-Ford, having the sister Racing Bulls outfit means it can take on four lots of data whenever an F1 session is run, providing much more feedback than its two rivals, albeit still behind the six data points from Ferrari [with customers Haas and Cadillac] and eight from Mercedes [with customers McLaren, Williams and Alpine].

While this is an advantage over Honda, which was previously in cahoots with Red Bull, and Audi, which won't be seen during the season once underway in Australia on March 8, testing will be crucial so that any development can get underway. Any major changes would likely show up in 2027.

Two public tests follow the initial shakedown, both in Bahrain in February before the 24-race calendar begins at the Australian Grand Prix.

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Ewan Gale
EWAN GALE

Ewan is a motorsport journalist covering F1 for Grand Prix On SI. Having been educated at Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix, and subsequently graduating from university with a sports journalism degree, Ewan made a move into F1 in 2021. Ewan joins after a stint with Autosport as an editor, having written for a number of outlets including RacingNews365 and GPFans, during which time he has covered grand prix and car launches as an accredited member of the media.

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