New Red Bull F1 chief makes 'silly' comment after Christian Horner's 'embarrassing' claim

In what proved to be his final press conference in charge of Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner said it would be "embarrassing" if top Formula 1 teams were beaten by his outfit in 2026, given they are becoming a works team and building their own engines for the first time in their history.

Of course, he is no longer the man overseeing that transition. Laurent Mekies is now team principal at Red Bull and, while he was not quite so provocative in the way he made his point, the Frenchman has concurred that it would be "silly" to expect his team's first engine to be as powerful as those made by experienced power unit manufacturers.

The likes of Ferrari and Mercedes have been making F1 engines for decades. Red Bull have poached some experienced staff from those established manufacturers and have also partnered with Ford to bring more expertise to the table.

But it remains the case that Red Bull are new at this, and so cannot reasonably be expected to immediately build a championship-winning engine. Mercedes chief Toto Wolff said as much at the Italian Grand Prix last weekend when he likened the situation to summiting Mount Everest.

"I think Toto is right by saying it is an Everest to climb," Mekies said, when informed of the Austrian's comments in a media session at Monza. "That is what it is: It is as crazy as it gets to take the decision to do your own power unit, as Red Bull has done.

"It is an unbelievable challenge to be associated with. It is the sort of crazy stuff Red Bull does, so it is a good feeling, but we do not underestimate how crazy it is. These guys have been doing it for 90 years or something like that, so it would be silly from our side to think we are going to come here and, right from the start, be at Ferrari's or Mercedes' level – that would be silly.

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"But it is being set up the Red Bull way – at the maximum possible level. We take it step by step. We are trying to ramp up as quickly as possible – both the PU and the structure that goes around the PU, the people, the infrastructure.

"Then, as I said, we expect a year with a lot of hard work, a lot of sleepless nights next year to try to get to the right level. But it is a challenge that very much feels like a Red Bull challenge and we love that.

"We are not going to put a number on where we think we will be – because I do not think anybody has a number – but we know we are starting with a mountain to climb, as Toto said."

Red Bull are one of five engine manufacturers who are building new engines ahead of a significant change to the rules in 2026. They are not the only newcomers with Audi also developing F1 power units for the first time, while the new Cadillac outfit also have plans to build their own engines within the next few years.