Red Bull are the first team to break cover with their 2026 livery

Red Bull Racing are expecting a tough start to the 2026 season as they debut their first in-house engine.

With massive regulation changes set to shake the sport up this year, Red Bull pulled back the covers on their new livery in Detroit on Thursday, the home of engine partner Ford.

Built on the Tilbrook campus in association with the American car giant, the 2026 power-unit is significantly different from the previous generation of engines which had powered Max Verstappen to four out of the last five world driver’s championships.

But heading into the new season, team boss Laurent Mekies said the team is expecting to go through some tough times to work out the kinks in their first engine effort, but predicts over time, they will come out on top.

“Starting from scratch, going into the first year, going to the first race soon, and thinking to be straight away at the level of the competition, who have been doing it for 90 years some of them, would be naive," Mekies said.

"We know it's going to be with a fair amount of struggles, headaches, sleepless nights. We will go through the struggle. We will eventually come out on top. Bear with us in the first few months.

“This is the result of the efforts of 2000 people at the Red Bull Technology Campus, the most talented group that you can find and they have been working together to get us to this moment.

“It is the beginning of an extremely exciting journey for all of us and we will take to the track as one - one Red Bull chassis and powerunit.”

While the car itself is unlikely to resemble the chassis displayed on stage in America, the new Red Bull livery was a step away from the decade-old matte paint scheme, coinciding with the huge changes behind-the-scenes at the MK-based team over the last 12 months.

Max Verstapen, who will race alongside new team-mate Isack Hadjar in 2026, said he loved the new livery, but knows heading into the new season will be a step into the unknown.

“I think it looks much better,” he said. “I’ve been asking for it for a long time! The blue is my favourite colour, I like the outlines on the logos, so it looks fresh.

“It’s all a bit unknown still, with the engines, the cars, even the dimensions of the cars too. For us drivers, it will take time to adjust, which is why it’s so important during the test days we can get our laps in and optimise as much as possible.”