Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

Red Bull embraces 'sleepless nights' after making 'crazy call' for 2026

11:15, 17 Dec

byKada Sarkozi

Red Bull Racing team boss Laurent Mekies understands the challenge of building an in-house engine for the first time, but the Frenchman is ready to take it on.

"We know we are going to have a few very, very tough months, many sleepless nights, a few headaches, but it's also part of the privilege to be associated with these sort of challenges."

- Laurent Mekies

For the first time in the team's history, Red Bull Racing will compete with an in-house power unit ahead of the 2026 regulation change, in collaboration with Ford.

Team boss Mekies explained that it's a very Red Bull-like challenge to take on. He told GPblog in Abu Dhabi: "The decisions to do your own power unit, in that case, for us, with the support of Ford, it's the craziest decisions one can take. And that's how we feel. It was a crazy, crazy call. Probably a call that only Red Bull can make.

"So we started in this field, we now have a building, we have the dynos, we have 600 people so, and we will try to fight against people that have been doing it for 90 years. So we love the challenge, we love that idea, it's very Red Bull. Very proud to do it with Ford."

Photo: Race Pictures

Mekies aware of the scale of the task

The team boss underlined that starting such a project will not come without its issues. He continued: "It would be naive to think that we are going to land in the top spot straight away there. So we know we are going to have a few very, very tough months, many sleepless nights, a few headaches, but it's also part of the privilege to be associated with this sort of challenge.

"Coming into the [Abu Dhabi] weekend, we said, you work all your life to be involved in this sort of high-intensity weekend.

"But it's a bit similar to next year, you know, it's an amazing challenge to be associated with and we know it's going to come with some pain but that's what we are here for," he concluded.

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