F1 News: Max Verstappen admits 'very hard to know' about Red Bull gap to Mercedes

Verstappen and Antonelli before the Italian GP — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen admits 'very hard to know' about Red Bull gap to Mercedes

He's not wrong about that!

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Saturday 19 September 2026 21:43

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Max Verstappen has weighed in on the gap in perception and production between his Red Bull team's power unit and Mercedes' championship-leading effort.

The Silver Arrows appear to be the team to beat in terms of power, and indeed in most other aspects, but the FIA's ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) review process tagged Red Bull as having the benchmark internal combustion engine.

Why the disparity? Well, F1 power units are split 50/50 between internal combustion engine and electrical power in 2026, and – as Verstappen points out – it may well just be that Mercedes' battery outstrips Red Bull's by more than the advantage produced by the Red Bull ICE.

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There are conceptual questions being asked about whether the ADUO decision system should also include the battery portion of power units in the future, with the new system being refined with input from teams.

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Verstappen: It's hard to know power unit gap to Mercedes

"The thing is," Verstappen said, "you have the measurement of the engine, the ICE, and not the battery, right? So it's two different things.

"At the end of the day, they [Mercedes] almost deploy the same amount of power. If you only measure one thing, maybe we are very good on the ICE side, and then maybe not as strong on the battery side compared to Mercedes. It's very hard to know.

"But that's what it looks like at the moment in terms of deployment."

Red Bull's ICE alone being at this level level at all is impressive in itself in the first year of the Red Bull Powertrains era, but the four-time world champion is concentrated on the team continuing to improve, rather than resting on their laurels.

"We just have to do a better job," he said. "We will just keep working, keep trying to be better in every aspect, of course, car, engine, battery, all of that. It's an ongoing development process we have to work on, but it takes time."