Max Verstappen paid a visit to Red Bull’s Powertrains facility in Milton Keynes on Thursday, as part of the team’s celebrations of winning the Italian Grand Prix.
The four-time F1 World Champion swung by Red Bull’s Technology Campus at Milton Keynes for an update on the progress of the 2026 power unit offering that will be in the back of his RB22 next year.
Max Verstappen at Milton Keynes for Red Bull Powertrains update
Fresh off the back of his dominant win at Monza to return to the top step of the podium for the first time since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the Dutch driver stopped by the team’s headquarters at Milton Keynes to celebrate the victory with the entire workforce.
Following the celebration, in which he posed for selfies with team boss Laurent Mekies with the staff in the background of the pictures, Verstappen popped across the campus to visit the Red Bull Powertrains facility.
The facility is months away from rolling out its first F1 power unit as an autonomous manufacturer, as Red Bull‘s long-standing partnership with Honda comes to an end at the conclusion of this season.
Verstappen was joined by Mekies, Red Bull Powertrains’ technical director Ben Hodgkinson, and team advisor and director Helmut Marko for a tour of the facilities and an update on the progress of the project.
“Max joined the team in Milton Keynes on Thursday, celebrating the victory and touring Red Bull Ford Powertrains as we continue to prepare for next season’s regulation changes,” the team said in a post on social media.
Max Verstappen, Ben Hodgkinson, and Laurent Mekies outside the Red Bull Powertrains facility at Milton Keynes.
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With Red Bull becoming a stand-alone manufacturer for the first time in its history, emulating the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes, Mekies admitted last week that comments from Mercedes’ boss Toto Wolff that Red Bull is facing an “Everest to climb” are correct.
“That’s what it is. It’s as crazy as it gets to take the decision to do your own power unit, as Red Bull has done,” he said.
“It’s an unbelievable challenge to be associated with. It’s the sort of crazy stuff Red Bull does – so it’s a good feeling. But we don’t underestimate how crazy it is.
“It would be silly from our side to think we’re going to come here and, right from the start, be at Ferrari’s or Mercedes’ level. That would be silly.
“But it’s being set up the Red Bull way – at the maximum possible level. We take it step by step. We are trying to ramp up as quickly as possible – both the PU and the structure that goes around the PU: the people, the infrastructure.
“Then, as I said, we expect a year with a lot of hard work, a lot of sleepless nights next year to try to get to the right level. But it’s a challenge that very much feels like a Red Bull challenge, and we love that.
“We’re not going to put a number on where we think we’ll be – because I don’t think anybody has a number – but we know we’re starting with a mountain to climb, as Toto said.”
Red Bull Powertrains’ efforts are in collaboration with global OEM giant Ford, with Ford Racing Global Director Mark Rushbrook explaining to PlanetF1.com how he feels the relationship between the two sides has evolved over the years since the announcement of their partnership.
“It’s three years since the discussions happened, almost three years in terms of what was signed and committed, but we were in helping before everything was even signed,” he said, during the Italian Grand Prix weekend.
“It’s at the point now where it’s a very natural relationship because we’re so far into it, and, once you’ve rolled your sleeves up and you’re in the trenches, it’s a very natural, comfortable relationship.
“Ben Hodgkinson is a leader for Red Bull Powertrains, with integration with our team, with the number of trips back and forth, or people on site, and just the communication. It’s an integrated team at this point.”
A recent change in the make-up of the project came about due to the removal of Christian Horner, with the British executive having been a catalyst for the partnership in the first place. Removed from his posts as team boss and CEO of Red Bull Racing, Horner has also since been removed from his directorship roles across all the F1 effort’s companies, including Red Bull Powertrains.
With Mekies promoted into the positions left open by Horner’s removal, Rushbrook explained that there is a different feel at the Milton Keynes campus.
“We knew Laurent, obviously, from where he was in VCARB, and we certainly respect and appreciate him,” he said.
“It’s certainly a different feel within the campus.
“But I think, at this point, everybody is just focused forward.
“We’re racers, we’ve got to go and develop the best power unit, the best car for 2026. Obviously, we’re putting forward a great effort for 2025, running out the current regulations.
“But I think the team, it’s a bunch of racers, and they’re focused on continuing to win races and championships going forward.
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