Red Bull handed significant blow over 2026 F1 chances

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Former F1 driver Johnny Herbert does not believe Red Bull will bounce back to top form next year under a new set of technical regulations. Major changes are coming to both the aerodynamic and power unit rules, which threaten to shake up the pecking order. Red Bull is designing its own engine for the first time in its history with help from Ford as it hopes to recover from the slump it has endured across the last year. The team has lost some significant figures in recent times, including team principal Christian Horner, technical chief Adrian Newey and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley. Herbert stated the new-look team has to quickly demonstrate it is capable of continuing Red Bull's success into the sport's new era. "The people that are now there, on the ground, the designers and aerodynamicists and the chassis guys and even with the power unit as well, they've got to prove themselves now," he told Thunderpick . "A lot of other people that have proven that they were a very important part of Red Bull have gone.  "And now they've declined in a very short space of time and it's how they rediscover the right mindset to be able to change their mentality to move it in a direction that is going to be more beneficial for 2026." The new power unit for next year is the biggest change seen in the sport since the turbo-hybrid rules were introduced in 2014. With a major task ahead of Red Bull to climb back to the top of the order, Herbert is unconvinced the team will be able to do so. "That goes down to the aerodynamics and the chassis, but it also goes down to the power unit as well which is going to be a massively big test because it's something they've taken on board themselves," he added. "That is a huge undertaking to be able to, one produce a F1  engine with all the technology that's involved, and two, to make it as good or better than the very experienced Mercedes-Benz, for example. "But of course Red Bull are not going to be having any of that.  "They're just going to be this badged Ford engine, but done in-house. And it's going to be interesting to see if they can do that. "Can I see a bounce back next year? No."
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