- Audi’s calculated strategy meets Red Bull’s power unit struggle in a new era.
- Three races in, Audi finds stability while Ford faces a technical mountain.
- Verstappen’s future hangs in the balance as Red Bull grapples with 2026 regs.
The 2026 F1 season was seen as a clean slate for the whole grid. It was also the start of a new dawn of super-complicated technical regs.
And what it also did was to lure two of the world’s automotive giants to the F1 grid, although not entirely under their own steam. Audi and Ford decided to enter the fray.
In an ideal world, we’d be five races in, which would be a good time to assess how these F1 ‘newbies’ have performed, but, of course, Donald Trump opted to start a war in the Middle East at the cost of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.
So let’s instead take a quick look at how both have fared over the first three races, and as they prep for Miami in a week and a half.
While the regulation changes initially promised to level the playing field, the early results from Audi and Red Bull-Ford show they are on different trajectories.
Audi: A measured arrival
Audi’s arrival into F1 via the staggered takeover of Sauber was something of a masterclass in long-term strategic planning.
Audi’s brand-new, shiny facilities, alongside Sauber’s existing infrastructure, have afforded the team a solid base from which to begin their F1 journey.
By the time it was ‘lights out’ in Melbourne, the Neuburg-based outfit had effectively spent years integrating their power unit development with the Hinwil chassis team. The result has been a sound and competent debut, if not a little low-key.
Audi, from a solid foundation, has developed a car that, while not yet podium-threatening, has looked both robust and reliable, and has avoided any catastrophic issues – those that often plague newcomers to the grid.
They’re still a long way off challenging their German rivals, Mercedes, and have accumulated just two points so far, but the early evidence suggests they have at least missed out on the ‘new manufacturer curse’.
Red Bull-Ford: An identity crisis?
By contrast, Red Bull Racing are navigating a period of, for them, unprecedented turbulence. For the first time since the hybrid era began, the Milton Keynes team have their own engine – the Red Bull Powertrains (RBPT) – which is, of course, backed by Ford.
The departure of Honda’s direct support and the transition to a leadership structure under Laurent Mekies, who replaced Christian Horner, has triggered what some have described as ‘a mid-life identity crisis’.
The on-track problems are clear, with Max Verstappen – a four-time world champion who is only used to winning – struggling to the point of questioning his F1 future,
The Ford power unit appears to be struggling with the intricate 50/50 power split, specifically when harvesting and deploying the massive 350kW of electrical boost.
Max is not happy, so Red Bull are not happy.
Growing pains?
The big question is whether these are temporary growing pains or a fundamental shift in the grid’s hierarchy.
Red Bull’s struggle has highlighted the difficulty of building a world-class engine from scratch, even with the resources of a giant like Ford.
Conversely, Audi’s steady start has shown that a manufacturer-led engine integration can provide a solid base, albeit with perhaps a slower climb to their ceiling.
And, obviously, there are their respective expectations. Red Bull expect to win. Audi wants to compete in mid-table.
As we head to Miami and then into the European season, the pressure on Milton Keynes to refine their ‘manual override’ issue and energy management is massive.
For Audi, the goal is simpler: steady progress. But for the Red Bull-Ford partnership, the honeymoon is definitely over. Now they must start to deliver … or risk losing Max.
