Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has denied any “self gain” in his recent calls for changes to Formula 1’s 2026 engine rules.
Last weekend Horner claimed the rules risk creating “Frankenstein” cars and create situations where drivers would have to change down gears on long straights to maximise performance.His driver Max Verstappen said the team’s simulator analysis indicated the rules would produce “terrible” cars. He also warned “whoever has the strongest engine will have a big benefit” in 2026.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff rejected Red Bull’s claims, rubbishing the idea drivers would have to downshift on the straights. He said there was “zero chance” of the 2026 rules being changed and suggested Horner was trying to “kill” the 2026 rules out of fear “maybe that his engine programmes is not coming along”.
Horner in return denied Wolff’s claim and insisted he is concerned about the quality of racing F1 will produce under its next set of technical regulations. Red Bull Powertrains will jointly develop its engines in co-operation with Ford following an announcement made since the 2026 rules were finalised.
“Unfortunately, that’s typically Toto where he’s just focused on self performance. My interest is actually about the sport, rather than self gain,” said Horner.
“It’s still way too early to say who’s going to have a competitive or uncompetitive engine in 2026.
“But for me, the most important thing is from a sporting point of view that we all have a collective responsibility to work with the FIA and the commercial rights holder to ensure that the product is as good as it can be. Otherwise, we’ve all failed.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
The 2026 F1 engine rules were first published by the FIA last August following years of consultation between it, F1, the current manufacturers and interested parties. However Horner believes others in the paddock are potentially in favour of revising them.
“The regulations are a hybrid of what was originally intended and of course it’s only as you work through a set of regulations that you find out where their limitations are. I think the FIA are being very responsible in terms of doing their due diligence, and I think certain teams share very similar opinions to that of our own.”
The FIA has “a capable team” which is “aware of what the challenges are” facing F1 with its next set of regulations, said Horner.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, whose team use customer Mercedes engines, said he is confident the FIA will arrive at a set of regulations which produce good racing. “I’m not a power unit expert like Christian is, and Toto has got some good experience around the power unit,” he remarked at a McLaren event on Monday.
“I think F1 is always trying to set technology ambitions first and everybody kind of goes ‘how are we going to make that happen?’. You heard that about these cars. As far as how good is the race going to be, and the downforce work, et cetera…
“Then all these very smart people in F1 eventually end up figuring it out. So I don’t really have a position on specifically what they’re debating, other than I’ve got a tremendous amount of confidence that no matter what the rules end up being, that everyone will ultimately figure it out.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 F1 season
- FIA president cleared of alleged interference in two 2023 races
- First week viewing figures for new Drive to Survive season fall again
- Max who? Drive to Survive season six prefers its favourite faces
- RaceFans’ complete 2023 season review
- The F1 drivers who pulled off the 10 biggest charges through the field in 2023
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
5th July 2023, 12:20
Everyone wants to benefit from their actions.
Release the data, so we have a basis for further discourse.
T
5th July 2023, 12:32
Christian if everyone is eventually going to figure it out THEN WHAT EVEN ARE YOUR CONCERNS THEN?!
You won’t release your simulations, you won’t say which team(s) share your concerns, you make a vague call to action about making the product as good as can be or you’ve failed, and you conclude with a reassuring confidence it’ll all work out in the end. What exactly do you want?
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
5th July 2023, 12:34
Christian did not say that.
T
5th July 2023, 15:37
I think you’re confusing brown saying something almost similar. Horner said there’s a capable team working on the future of the sport, Brown said he believes in the smart people in F1. Perhaps I could have been more clearer and take less liberties but Horner most definitely said or at the very least, alluded to those sentiments/words.
anon
5th July 2023, 12:50
There’s also the question of how Horner can supposedly be so sure about how exactly the cars will perform in 2026 when neither the chassis nor aerodynamic regulations exist yet.
MacLeod (@macleod)
5th July 2023, 14:02
Simulation …. every team is already on the case for 2026 nothing strange here.
anon
5th July 2023, 15:23
@macleod and how are you supposed to be certain that the simulation is a reasonable approximation of a 2026 car when basic parameters around the chassis and aerodynamics have not been defined yet?
Right now, some of the basic fundamentals of the 2026 regulations have not yet been formally defined – the minimum weight is not yet fixed, dimensions for the width and breadth of bodywork are currently undefined, as are the related restrictions on wheelbase, and the way in which the active aerodynamics will operate are not yet known either.
We already know that at least one basic assumption made for those simulations is currently disputed – Red Bull have been claiming the minimum weight will go up, whilst the FIA has previously stated they intend the minimum weight to remain the same, or potentially even decrease slightly, in 2026. That is arguably one of the simpler parameters to define, and already there are contradictory assumptions being made – how many other assumptions made by Red Bull might also be disputed?
Red Bull can simulate what they want – but given that it will have to be based on a large number of assumptions about the 2026 regulations, it doesn’t mean that their simulations are a realistic representation of a 2026 car.
David BR (@david-br)
5th July 2023, 12:54
2026, everything goes bad? Oh no, just two more years of M̶a̶x̶ ̶w̶i̶n̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ totally competitive racing for wins then.
SteveP
5th July 2023, 17:53
It’s been a long day, I had to re-read that, as initially I thought you said Max whining about everything.
Pete
5th July 2023, 13:08
I appreciate he’s probably just answer a question from a journalist so has to say something but we’re very much in the political side of F1 where everything is said to benefit your own team. None of the teams care in the slightest whether changes will be good for the sport or not – they care purely about whether changes will be good for them and them alone.
The team at the top are never going to be delighted about big changes to the regulations so of course Red Bull would prefer things to remain as they are. They’re using a Honda at the moment but will have to do their own thing for 2026 so it’s a potential area where they may struggle and the other teams are going to be hoping for that because as long as Newey is around, they’re not going to beat them on aero.
baasbas
5th July 2023, 13:27
Right… suuure
tielemst
5th July 2023, 14:43
No, really! In this snake pit of macho men with conflicting interests and shameless politics there is one man, proudly standing up for the benefit of the sport. His name? Christian HorHAHAHAHAHA
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th July 2023, 0:01
Ahah, far from a horner critic compared to some people here but that was really funny and yes, don’t believe him. Red bull has always been focused on aerodynamics and compensating engine weaknesses with that.
MadMax (@madmax)
5th July 2023, 13:57
RBR not seeking anything but benefit, I’d say. With all the rule changes to end the Merc dominance they already created two years of total RBR dominance. To further fall for their politics would not help the situation.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th July 2023, 0:02
1,5, first half of 2022 was fine.
Todfod (@todfod)
5th July 2023, 14:25
I’m wondering if this statement can get COTD
Horner is beyond ridiculous.
Yellow Baron
5th July 2023, 15:25
I decided to read the comments before the articles and I find that quote hilarious
SteveP
5th July 2023, 17:56
Look, folks, there is a reason I refer to him as Hans Christian Horner – it’s all the fantasy tales he keeps putting out.
MichaelN
5th July 2023, 19:04
The problem with these statements by Horner is that he’s obviously a good manager, but he’s not even close to being on Wolff’s level when it comes to politics.
This business of praising the FIA for doing such a good job, claiming to be all concerned about the commercial appeal of F1, saying he has a ton of people who agree with him but can name none. It’s all such trite politicking 101.
That said:
How is that a “warning”? Isn’t F1 supposed to be about competing on the technology as well?
Besides, the engine rules are so prescriptive it’s more likely the engines will be near indistinguishable.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
5th July 2023, 21:26
MichaelN,
In my opinion, Horner and Wolff are both highly skilled team principles, albeit with different approaches. Toto Wolff may have a slight advantage, mainly in terms of his management style. He tends to present himself as a fair and principled manager, whereas in reality he’s an hypocrite sour loser that will do whatever it takes to win. On the other hand, Horner is a proud sour loser who stands for nothing, often engaging in disputes and complaints to achieve his desired outcomes.
RBR are a campaigning juggernaut and have a history of being vocal and whiny, as demonstrated during the V8 era when Vettel and Webber would promptly jump out of the car and voice their concerns to the nearest cameras.
In contrast, Toto adopts a more behind-the-scenes approach, leveraging strategic tactics to obtain as much advantages as he can to his team. He is also supported in his activities by a powerful PR machine and has associated his image with Lewis Hamilton who is extremely influential.
Look at the tactics Horner is using in his statement. He knows that F1 will have the upper hand in terms of defining the regulations and that they are desperately trying to level the playing field. So he is just alerting them about the “product” which equals dividends to the stakeholders who know nothing about the sport. Now Liberty’s top management are probably in a panic mode and trying to understand what Horner was implying.
Remember that Horner lobbied successfully to get the Qualy modes banned simply because Honda didn’t have one. He also used similar tactics to get the PU freeze regime implemented… Horner is extremely pathetic but he’s effective though…
SteveP
6th July 2023, 8:20
To be a good manager, a person has to invest at least a little of their emotion in the setup they are managing. They also need to work to present their setup in the best light. Honest answers, or avoiding answers, sums up the response.
Obviously it’s only an outside impression, but everything that comes out (as opposed to being deliberately presented) suggests that Toto is a good manager with an emotional investment in the team. Horner? Well, there’s one or two outright untruths he’s been noted to utter. (Cost cap interviews…)
Before you ask, yes, I have done management courses.
Kribana (@krichelle)
5th July 2023, 19:22
I don’t trust this guy’s words given the reputation of « win at all costs » from his team.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th July 2023, 0:06
Looks like that’s a very popular opinion, judging by the comments.
Qeki (@qeki)
6th July 2023, 9:06
I don’t have candy
said the kid who was holding it behind his back