Red Bull Partners Convergent Science In Design of 2026 F1 Power Unit

Red Bull have announced a partnership with Convergent Science in design of their 2026 F1 power unit. 

Red Bull set up their powertrains project in 2021 following Honda’s decision to leave F1 with view to creating their first power unit for this season, although the Japanese manufacture has since agreed to provide technical support for Red Bull and AlphaTauri until end of 2025 season.

The Austrian-based constructor will therefore debut its first power unit in 2026 F1 season, which will see regulations change in order to specify use of 100% sustainable fuels.

Co-founder and owner of Convergent Science, Kelly Senecal commented that the software firm are “thrilled” to partner Red Bull for “cutting-edge” development of their 2026 power unit.

As part of their design process around the new power unit, Red Bull will use Convergent Science’s CONVERGE CFD software to help maximise their power unit designs, with the US software firm supporting the design of the engine’s combustion system.

Convergent Science will also support Red Bull with optimising fuel spray and combustion chamber parameters, with their ‘detailed combustion models’ used to help Red Bull predict the performance of different Internal Combustion Engine designs.

Red Bull will also receive the ability to swiftly set up new simulations using various geometry configurations, in order to allow their engineers ‘to rapidly evalute design options.’

Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner meanwhile provided the following update on their current progress, as he said: “The development of our power unit for the 2026 season is evolving day by day in our new Red Bull Powertrains factory, with a highly motivated group of engineers and mechanics.

We continue to invest in people and facilities to bring competitive power units to the grid, and to achieve that target we need the best tools in every area.”

Horner added that CONVERGE CFD’s combustion models will allow them to fast-track their development, as he continued: “Their highly detailed combustion models enable us to visualise and simulate the inside of the cylinder during combustion, a process that will accelerate our development of a more powerful and efficient engine for the next generation of F1.”