Red Bull have estimated that they are sitting behind Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari in terms of outright performance after the opening pre-season test in Bahrain, despite the \u201cremarkable job\u201d done by the team\u2019s new power unit division.<\/p>\n
Red Bull head into the 2026 campaign \u2013 and F1\u2019s new era of regulations \u2013 having designed both their car and engine in-house for the first time, with Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar talking up the powertrain\u2019s performance and reliability<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reflecting on Red Bull\u2019s first three days in the Sakhir desert, Technical Director Pierre Wache said: \u201cIt has been a positive week, running a full day with Max, with plenty of testing time as we worked on understanding the car and the direction to go in with the power unit.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, on day two we had some problems with the hydraulics on the chassis side, which compromised Isack\u2019s running in the morning, but we were able to recover this in the afternoon.<\/p>\n \u201c[On Friday] morning with Max we evaluated set-ups and saw some good direction and this was similar with Isack [in the] afternoon, so it\u2019s been quite positive with the mileage done.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to make sure the car continues to develop a lot more to improve the issue on the balance side, and we know that there is a lot of room for improvement. Our drivers are very motivated and have given us a lot of feedback on where we can improve the car and how we can change the direction of development.<\/p>\n \u201cIn general, Red Bull Ford Powertrains has done a remarkable job as a start-up; in three-and-a-half years we have created a power unit and have it out running on track, which is fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n Wache then offered some thoughts on the early 2026 pecking order, putting Red Bull fourth overall at this point \u2013 even if it follows a trend of teams pointing to their rivals<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe second step is to see where we are sitting compared to others and improve,\u201d he continued. \u201cThere were a few teams which were clearly very quick [on Friday] and it looks like we are behind, so there is still a lot to improve. Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari are there at the top.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a massive learning curve, there are plenty of unknowns and a lot to do. We have been evaluating our weaknesses and strengths and are just focusing on improving the car. We go into [the second test] looking at what we can bring to the car to make it better and solve the issues we have identified.\u201d<\/p>\n