Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen says Red Bull has made \u201ca good start\u201d with its new engine, having already caught the eyes of its rivals.<\/p>\n
Red Bull<\/a> comes into the new regulations cycle having built its own power unit for the first in partnership with US motoring giant Ford.<\/p>\n Ahead of the Barcelona shakedown at the end of last month, there was some doubt about where Red Bull would be with its new engine.<\/p>\n But early feedback from surprised rivals<\/a>, particularly Mercedes, suggests Red Bull has hit the ground running with its new engine.<\/p>\n The 2026 Red Bull managed a considerable amount of mileage and strong reliability at the behind-closed-doors Barcelona test, with Max Verstappen<\/a> cautiously enthused afterwards.<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n \u201cI think, overall, pretty decent,\u201d Verstappen told the official F1 website when asked about the Barcelona shakedown with the RB22.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first morning, I didn\u2019t get too many laps, also with the weather basically.<\/p>\n \u201cBut [the last day] was good. I did a lot of laps, we learned a lot. Still a lot of things that we want to look into and do better, but that\u2019s normal, I guess.<\/p>\n \u201cIn general, with the new engine, to do the amount of laps that we did is very nice and it\u2019s a good start for us.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, positive, but it\u2019s still very early days.<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n \u201cStill a work in progress, but I think we\u2019ve hit the ground running quite well with those things.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s still a very complicated formula, I think, for everyone, so there\u2019s still quite a bit of work to do. But that\u2019s normal.\u201d<\/p>\n