Red Bull Denies Powering V10 Return Talk

Christian Horner has denied it is Red Bull that is pushing hardest for the return of V10 engines in Formula 1.

Pat Symonds, an engineering stalwart of the sport, now consults for the all-new Cadillac team – who he says may not even have a car to run at all if the scheduled 2026 rule changes do not fire up from next year.

“Audi can’t do it,” he is quoted as saying by France’s Auto Hebdo, referring to the fact that Sauber will become the full Audi team from 2026 with a brand new engine.

“We (Cadillac) designed a car for a 2026 Ferrari engine. We suspect that a 2025 Ferrari engine would not fit in the car,” Symonds added, dismissing the entire concept of calling off the 2026 rules as “wishful thinking”.

One theory is that Red Bull is powering the V10s running on 100 percent sustainable fuel idea, amid rumours the team is concerned its new Ford-backed Red Bull Powertrains project will be significantly outpaced.

Team boss Horner denies it.

“We now have our own engine department and are running our engines on the test benches,” he said. “I think all the teams are fully focused on 2026 at the moment.

“There has been some speculation that we are pushing for a delay, but that is absolutely not the case. We are prepared and ready for 2026. That is our plan.”

Horner even agrees with Symonds’ line of thinking that the discussions taking place behind the scenes are essentially wishful thinking.

“I would be very surprised,” he said when asked if he expected a sudden U-turn in regulations. “It’s very late in the process. There is a governance structure, there is a process, there are rules in place.”