SAKHIR, Bahrain (Reuters) – Red Bull Formula One boss Christian Horner has expressed support for an eventual return to V10 engines despite his team spending heavily on designing their own power unit for the new era starting in 2026.
The naturally aspirated V10s, which disappeared from the starting grid in 2006, are far louder than the current V6 turbo-hybrid units but are being mooted as a future option with sustainable fuel.
The governing FIA said last week that discussions were ongoing with stakeholders over the sport’s technical direction from 2030 and a working group was likely to be set up to explore all possibilities.
“Personally, from a sporting perspective, looking at what the future engine of Formula One should be beyond this next generation, particularly with the way that sustainable fuel is going, it does open up all kinds of opportunities,” said Horner.
“Inadvertently, we’ve ended up with a very, very expensive, very complex engine from ’26 onwards.
“The purist in me would love to go back to a V10 that was done responsibly with sustainable fuel that reintroduced the sounds of grand prix racing,” he added at pre-season testing in Bahrain.
“It’s an interesting concept and one to certainly look for after this current set of regulations.”
Red Bull, who will be partnered by Ford from 2026 after a split from Honda, have built a powertrains plant next to their Milton Keynes headquarters.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Peter Rutherford)
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