Verstappen has full faith in Red Bull’s F1 engine project after signing new deal

The Dutchman signed a bumper new deal earlier this month to keep him with Red Bull until 2028.

Verstappen’s long term commitment means he will drive for the team when Red Bull will run its own F1 engine.

After Honda decided to leave the sport at the end of 2021, Red Bull decided to take on the production of its own power units from 2026.

This decision saw the creation of Red Bull Powertrains as it develops its own engine while continuing to get support from Honda.

Speaking on the opening day of the Bahrain test, Verstappen was confident about Red Bull’s ability to develop its own PU in F1.

"A bit like my previous deal, there was also a few unknown things," he said. "But I trust the team that everything will be fine because they have shown before that they can handle these situations really well.

"I also find it important that you have a good time while you’re in F1 and you have fun with the people you’re travelling with and I definitely have that. Why would you change that? I believe in the whole project, also going forwards with what is coming and just enjoy working with everyone in the team. 

"I just have a really good time so that’s why I think it was a straightforward decision in the end."

Verstappen will look to win this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix for the first time on the back of a strong test for Red Bull.

Assessing his chances this weekend, he said: "We learnt a lot at testing in Barcelona and Bahrain, I’m very excited to turn our attention to racing now, it’s a whole new era for the sport and anything can happen. 

"The focus is to bring the grid together and make it easier to follow, I hope we see that in the first race. Everything is so new so there are a lot of unknowns heading into the first race of the season. I’m looking forward to seeing where we are compared to the rest of the grid come qualifying on Saturday. 

"The car looks good and as a Team, we are in a good place. The most important thing for us in Bahrain is to have a stable weekend without too many issues and we hope to score a good amount of points."