Stella in line with Red Bull on 2026 engines? 'Common interests before our own'

Later this week, the F1 commission is meeting to discuss potential tweaks on the 2026 engines in light of certain technical concerns that have arisen prior to their implementation next year. Andrea Stella believes this introspection is necessary to protect F1's health.

Whereas Red Bull Racing's team principal, opines in a similar way to Stella, the Italian's view seems to be diametrically opposed to that of his supplier's CEO, Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff's, who outrightly called the 2026 engines being an item of discussion on the F1 commission's list 'a joke'.

"Well, my opinion is very clear. The principle I want to state very strongly is that it is the responsibility of all the stakeholders to make sure that the 2026 regulations are successful. Because there's no point in teams competing with each other if we don't have a good sport."

"And the sport, the quality of the sport, the quality of the spectacle, the quality of racing is a function of the product, from a chassis and power unit point of view," Stella said.

'F1 must be open to change, but not regarding the hardware'

Continuing talks regarding the engines that are to be used next year, is paramount in protecting F1.

"So I think keeping the conversation open, such that we really go into the details, considering overtaking, considering power deployment, considering power harvesting, everything that determines the quality of the product and therefore of the spectacle and therefore the health of the business, we should look into that and we shouldn't say it's frozen."

"If we see that some things need to stay open, then I think we need to have this open mind, keep working on that," adds the Italian, with a caveat, though.

"Obviously these adjustments don't have to be structural. We're not going to change the hardware, but if there's minor changes that we need to apply in the way we use the hardware, and this improves these characteristics that I said, then I think this is part of the responsibilities of all the stakeholders and when I say stakeholders it's F1, FIA and the teams."

"And when the interest is bigger than the individual interest, I think we need to put the common interest before our own," closed Stella.

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What may change for 2026, what will not?

There are indications that point to Red Bull Powertrains-Ford, Audi, Honda and Ferrari being concerned regarding the competitveness of their engines, as such minor tweaks into how the engines are used are being looked at.

What is clear, though, is that discarding the rules is not an option. If anything a redistribution of the power output between the internal combustion engine and the electrical side would be the most aggressive change, steering away from the 50-50 previously prescribed split.

An option to scale back the battery's power during races is also there, but it's a less likely route. Of course, the decision to leave things as they are is also on the table.