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Christian Horner has praised Red Bull’s power unit operation after an FIA ruling judged the Milton Keynes squad to have the strongest combustion engine at the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
The assessment was made under the FIA’s ADUO — Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities — system, which determined that Red Bull currently has the best combustion engine in the field.
That finding carries obvious significance. This is the first season in which Red Bull has entered Formula 1 with its own power unit, making the ruling a major early endorsement of a programme still in its competitive infancy. For a manufacturer effort arriving at the highest level of the sport, being placed ahead of established rivals is a striking statement.
There is, however, a competitive trade-off. Because Red Bull has been judged to have the leading engine, it is now ineligible to produce an upgrade to that unit this year. That restriction gives rival manufacturers an opportunity to close the gap as the season develops.
Horner’s comments come after his recent return to the F1 spotlight, with more on that context available in our coverage of Christian Horner’s paddock appearance after his Red Bull exit.
Horner, who departed the Red Bull team principal role this time last year, said he had been impressed by the scale of the achievement and the speed of the department’s progress.
“Do you know what, seeing that engine... five years ago the factory used to make bubble wrap,” Horner told Sky F1.
“To be judged the best engine in F1 as a startup, I think those guys have done incredibly well.”
The remark underlined the extent of the transformation Horner believes has taken place inside Red Bull’s power unit division. In his view, the significance lies not only in the performance verdict itself, but in the fact it has been achieved by an operation still being framed as a startup in Formula 1 engine terms.
Horner also stressed that Red Bull’s partners deserved recognition, pointing to the role played by Exxon Mobil and Ford Motor Company in bringing the engine package to its current level.
“A big shout out to the partners there as well, Exxon Mobil, with the fuel that they provided, and Ford Motor Company,” he said.
“It was a collective effort, and I think it's underestimated what they've actually done.”
He added: “To have an engine ahead of Ferrari, ahead of Honda, ahead of Audi, ahead of even Mercedes - nobody thought that was possible.”
For Red Bull, the ruling is both validation and limitation: proof of an impressive opening benchmark, but also a regulatory freeze that invites the rest of the grid to respond.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.