Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says Red Bull Powertrains has done a “good job” with its first engine, after a seemingly strong debut in the Barcelona shakedown run.
Reminded that the Red Bull Powertrains Ford operation has been brought together with a large number of staff poached from Mercedes, as previously mentioned by Christian Horner, Wolff now waits to see how all the manufacturers will compare when “the stopwatch actually” comes into play.
Toto Wolff: Red Bull has ‘done a good job’
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With new chassis and engine regulations in effect for F1 2026, all teams bar Williams got a first feel for the new creations in Barcelona, as part of a five-day private test, held between 26-30 January.
The test was closed to the media, though updates did trickle through via unofficial sources. One of the biggest talking points was how reliable all the new engines appeared to be.
The Mercedes, Red Bull Ford and Ferrari engines all seemed to run with very few interruptions. Audi bounced back from some initial teething issues with their R26, while Aston Martin did not get enough laps in for a true read on the Honda creation.
When speaking with PlanetF1.com and others, it was put to Wolff that the pre-F1 2026 talk was that of engines being a big performance differentiator, yet Barcelona suggested that there is not much of a spread between the manufacturers.
“It’s another example where so much is being made up in performance differentiation in a certain area,” Wolff responded.
“I’ve seen, in terms of pure performance on a lap, and even over several laps, it’s looked like that there is no one that it is really collapsing.
“I’m really happy how it went for us, in the sense of interaction, power unit deployment and the chassis.
“But having said that, we had a solid three days, that is something to build upon, but we don’t have really a performance picture yet.
“Because we haven’t seen Max [Verstappen] driving the car fast, and we haven’t seen McLaren and Ferrari doing what they can do.
“So I would carefully refrain from saying that was great for us. We simply don’t know.”
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Wolff was pressed on Red Bull specifically, considering that its new engine operation features a lot of former Mercedes staff.
Then Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, spoke back in 2024 of more than 200 people being poached from Mercedes.
“When it comes to Red Bull, I think they’ve done a good job,” said Wolff.
“[Isack] Hadjar did 107 laps, I believe, on the first day, and was running reliably, so you’ve got to give them that.
“And the rest, we will see when the stopwatch actually comes out.”
The first, official pre-season test takes place in Bahrain from 11-13 February, followed by the second test in the nation from 18-20 February.
Additional reporting by Mat Coch
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