Formula 1 News: Red Bull Powertrains Boss Ben Hodgkinson Opens Up on Red Bull’s 2026 engine
On November 19, 2025, Ben Hodgkinson (pictured), Technical Director of Red Bull Powertrains and a former long-time Mercedes engine expert, gave a candid interview on The Inside Track – the official BBC Studios podcast with exclusive access to Oracle Red Bull Racing.
Speaking just days before the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend, Hodgkinson discussed the enormous challenge of building Red Bull’s first in-house power unit (in partnership with Ford) for the radically new 2026 regulations, while also touching on how the project has indirectly affected the team’s 2025 championship battle.
Key points from Hodgkinson’s interview:
– Small but real impact on 2025 performance
Hodgkinson admitted that diverting significant resources and personnel to the 2026 power-unit program has had a “small indirect impact” on Red Bull Racing’s current car development and title chances with Max Verstappen.
> “Indirectly, I think yes… It’s not a big impact, but one of our big advantages and disadvantages for the team is the engines.”
He stressed that the 2026 project is completely ring-fenced from day-to-day 2025 operations, but the sheer scale of hiring and building a new facility has inevitably pulled some focus away from the current season.
– Confidence Mercedes will be strong in 2026 – but Red Bull is closing fast
Drawing on his 20 years at Mercedes HPP, Hodgkinson expects his former employer to be a benchmark in 2026, but believes Red Bull-Ford is developing quicker now after starting from further back.
> “I think Mercedes are likely to do well… But I’m reasonably confident we’re developing faster than them now that we’ve caught up from starting behind.”
He highlighted the colossal task: a 2026 power unit has over 20,000 components, and Red Bull had to redesign every single one from scratch (compared to the usual ~600 changes year-on-year).
– Max Verstappen’s recent visit to the Powertrains facility
Verstappen toured the Milton Keynes engine factory recently and heard the 2026 power unit fire up for the first time.
> “I think he was impressed with where we were… He got to hear what the ’26 power unit would sound like.”
Hodgkinson said Verstappen asked “lots of really intelligent questions” and has an unusually deep understanding of power-unit technical details for a driver – something the technical director believes is part of Verstappen’s competitive edge. Visitors are routinely “flabbergasted” by the detail and scale of the operation.
– Ambition for 2026: straight to the front
Unlike most new engine projects that ease their way in, Red Bull’s target is clear: fight for wins from race one in 2026.
> “That’s not the Red Bull way. We want to be at the top immediately – ideally tooth-and-nail with my old team.”
The episode (released November 19, 2025) offers rare insight into the biggest technical undertaking in Red Bull’s F1 history as the team prepares to become a full works outfit for the first time under the new sustainable-fuel, 50/50 hybrid-combustion regulations.