Yesterday at 11:05
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."