Ferrari 'used weight' as top F1 team to stop Red Bull from getting special status

According to recent reports in the Italian media, Scuderia Ferrari have blocked rivals Red Bull from receiving many of the benefits that are given to new power unit suppliers, after the Maranello team also got support from Mercedes, Alpine and Audi. The Austrian side wanted to be seen as a new power unit manufacturer in the start of the 2026 Formula One championship, when Red Bull will start relying on its own Red Bull Powertrains engines.

Such as rookie status would give Red Bull a great opportunity to take advantage of a series of benefits including the possibility to use more financial resources and bonus development as compared to Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault. But after months of negotiations and clarifications, their request seems to have been denied, although no official announcement has been made so far. This would be a huge hit for team principal Christian Horner who wanted his side to be considered a “newcomer” for when the new generation of engines will be introduced.

Several teams pointed out to the issue related to Red Bull’s current situation: they have established themselves as a top team with the valuable help and support of Honda in the last few years, as the Japanese company has provided them with a power unit capable of matching the Mercedes engine and will keep using this PU until the end of the 2025 F1 campaign.

As a result, it seems that Red Bull “had to give up” in the battle for the 2026 status after Scuderia Ferrari asserted its “political weight”, something the Maranello team has failed to do many times in the last few years, losing out on most of the FIA decisions in terms of technical regulation.

Italian daily newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport informs that Ferrari John Elkann and chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna were directly involved in this matter, while also getting help from Mercedes, Alpine and the true new manufacturer Audi.

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The FIA has reportedly agreed with the points made by Ferrari and the other PU suppliers, solving this issue before the start of the 2023 F1 championship. There were also some who wondered why Red Bull should not benefit from this additional support given its new partnership with Ford while Audi will indeed receive them.

It is worth pointing out that the two entrants have completely different approaches and Ford’s case is clearly less attractive. The American manufacturer would have been entitled to a rookie status if they set up a team from zero, but they will only be a commercial partner for Red Bull through their new deal.

The discussions regarding Red Bull’s plan had caused a behind-the-scenes crisis for Formula 1 and FIA bosses.

The situation even led to the Maranello team not wanting to officially register for the 2026 power unit regulations until now, with two deadlines that had passed. According to the Italian media, Ferrari was even banned from taking part in an Engine Advisory committee which was held two months ago. On the other hand, Alpine, Mercedes and Audi had agreed to the terms by this stage but had also hinted at concerns. Alpine team principal Laurent Rossi confirmed there were some disagreements between teams over “legal” matters: “We had some points we wanted to discuss on the legal side, to make sure that we fully covered as much as possible, which we did. We just kept on discussing those points as far as we could. And at some point, when we reach a level in discussions where we think we’re all in a good position, we sign – or we’re going to sign. I think it’s imminent.” – he explained.