Lewis Hamilton’s wait for a Grand Prix victory now stands at over two years as Red Bull continue to dominate at the front of the field.
Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of kicking off the new regulation period in 2026 with a dominant car have been bolstered after Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted that his power unit project has ‘ground to make up’ on the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari.
The legendary Brit came within one lap of claiming his record-breaking eighth World Championship at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but saw it pulled from under him following a controversial safety car procedure call from race director Michael Masi.
Since then, Red Bull have flexed their muscles and established themselves as the team to beat in the ground effect era, winning 21 out of the 22 Grands Prix in 2023 as they dominated both World Championships. Hamilton, meanwhile, is without a race win in over two years, but the Mercedes star still holds hope of claiming title number eight.
With Red Bull holding such a considerable advantage over the rest of the field, Hamilton’s best shot at returning to World Championship contention will likely come when the new regulations arrive in 2026. This also marks the start of Mercedes’ rivals’ own power unit project.
Speaking to PlanetF1 about the progress of the Red Bull Powertrains project, Horner explained: “It’s busy, there’s 24 months before that engine will be being bolted into the back of the RB22.
“It’s not that long in the engine world so there’s still an awful lot more to do in a very short period of time. But I’m confident that we’ve got the right people, and we can get there.”
The Red Bull boss was then asked about what point in the production process his team have reached, responding: “We’re not going to go into detail yet of where we’re at, but we’re on a trajectory.
“But we’ve got a lot of ground to cover and a lot of ground to make up – we’re competing against manufacturers that have decades of experience. Red Bull, 30 months ago, this project was still embryonic. So what’s been achieved in 13 months has been outstanding.”
If Red Bull do lag behind Mercedes and Ferrari in the power unit battle then this could have disastrous consequences for Verstappen’s title hopes, instead playing into the hands of Hamilton with the Silver Arrows hoping to exert similar engine dominance to the turbo-hybrid era.
With power units set to be critical to the 2026 regulation period, the pressure will be on for Red Bull. Verstappen has already made his concerns clear, stating: “The problem is it looks like it’s going to be an ICE competition, like whoever has the strongest engine will have a big benefit.”
