Christian Horner

Christian Horner's 'Frankenstein' warning emerges over 2026 F1 cars

Sheona Mountford Wednesday 25 February 2026 20:28

Photo: © IMAGO

Christian Horner's F1 prophecy, warning against the 2026 cars has recently been unearthed.

The former Red Bull boss played an instrumental role in preparing his squad for the 2026 regulations, getting their powertrains operation off the ground and hiring experienced engineers from Honda and Mercedes.

Horner was unable to usher Red Bull into the new F1 era however, being sacked from the role of team principal in 2025, and sits on the sidelines for the first season of the 2026 regulations.

It has emerged though, that Horner was initially unconvinced by the new concept of cars that will dominate F1 for the foreseeable future.

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Horner's 2026 prophecy

Following pre-season testing in Bahrain, question marks remain over the new regulations with the FIA not opposed to making mid-season changes once the action gets underway in Melbourne.

Most drivers have criticised the 2026 cars, Max Verstappen being the most vocal of all, with the new machinery demanding more lifting and coasting alongside the deployment and harvesting of energy.

Lewis Hamilton also has warned that the new regulations and rules will be too complex for fans to understand, with several new terms already being banded about in testing such as boost mode, turbo lag and recharge mode.

In his own criticism, Verstappen revealed he raised these issues with the cars 'in 2023', but he wasn't the only person who could see the flaws in the new rules back then.

Swiss publication Blick, recently reflected on the 2026 regulations and claimed that an F1 team boss told them: "I still remember the first meeting about the new rules in London around four years ago. The main focus was on sustainability. Suddenly, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner stood up and said ‘Friends, watch out, we're creating a technical Frankenstein here. I'm not so optimistic’."

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