Overview
- Red Bull and Racing Bulls reveal their 2026 liveries at Ford’s Detroit season launch, with Ford ambassador Daniel Ricciardo confirmed to appear alongside Max Verstappen.
- For the first time, Red Bull will race an in-house power unit developed with Ford, a step Team Principal Laurent Mekies called a monumental challenge that will require patience early on.
- Verstappen predicts teams will spend more time in garages than on track at the closed Barcelona shakedown on January 26–30, with each team limited to a maximum of three days, before two Bahrain tests in February.
- Following a late rules change and with Ricciardo’s approval, Verstappen will switch to race number 3 for 2026 instead of reverting to 33.
- MotoGP launch season gathered pace as Pramac unveiled Toprak Razgatlioglu’s debut-season colours on January 13 in Siena and Aprilia presented its 2026 livery in Milan.