JUST IN: MAX VERSTAPPEN TARGETS TITLE RETURN AFTER PROMISING FIRST 2026 ENGINE RUN
Red Bull's first in-house engine, the RBPT DM01, exceeds expectations in Barcelona as Max Verstappen prepares for a 2026 title bid.
Max Verstappen wants his F1 crown back in 2026, but it all comes down to whether Red Bull’s brand-new engine is up to the challenge.
Last year, Verstappen’s winning streak finally ended. He missed a fifth straight title by just two points. Lando Norris, driving for McLaren, edged him out to take his first championship—even though Verstappen racked up the most wins and poles. Weirdly, Max never actually led the standings at any point in 2025. That hadn’t happened to him since 2020. Still, he wrapped up the season with eight Grand Prix wins and eight poles, while Red Bull kept pushing upgrades till the bitter end.
But there was a risk. Red Bull’s focus on the 2025 car might have hurt their 2026 project. Team boss Laurent Mekies tried to steer them away from the slide they’d started under Christian Horner, but he wasn’t convinced it made sense to throw everything at 2026 like the other teams.
And that might become a real problem if Red Bull’s standards slip. Ferrari stopped developing their 2025 car as early as April, and McLaren switched focus to 2026 regulations by July. Pretty much everyone else jumped on the new rules early, since F1 is changing just about everything—engines, aero, chassis, tyres. It’s the biggest shake-up the sport’s ever seen.
Red Bull has even more on their plate. For the first time, they’ll build their own engine instead of buying from someone else. Honda planned to leave but then signed up as Aston Martin’s factory partner, which left Horner—while he was still around—scrambling to launch Red Bull Powertrains.
Jan Lammers, who’s been around the block in F1 and at Le Mans, thinks Red Bull would actually be thrilled just to land in the top three next year. He’s not so sure Verstappen would settle for that. “I think Red Bull would be very happy if they could immediately run in the top six,” Lammers told RacingNews365. “If they can get into that top three, that’s a good start. I don’t know where Max draws the line for himself.”
Red Bull’s first in-house engine will run in both their main team and Racing Bulls in 2026. They’ve brought Ford on as a technical partner to help with the hybrid side of things. Building an engine for a brand-new ruleset is a massive leap for them—they’re used to being a customer, not starting from scratch. Now they have to nail a power unit that splits its energy 50/50 between electric and combustion, and it runs on advanced sustainable fuels.
To boost their odds, Red Bull poached a bunch of engine experts from Mercedes. That move has other teams a bit nervous, suspecting Red Bull might have found a loophole in the new engine rules.
So far, things don’t look too bad. The first signs from last week’s shakedown test in Barcelona were promising for their RBPT DM01 unit. But Red Bull isn’t satisfied yet. They’re still working out the kinks in how the engine delivers its power, after spotting a few rough edges during the first pre-season test of 2026.
MAX VERSTAPPEN DISQUALIFIED FROM NLS2 WIN AFTER SURPASSING TYRE SET LIMITS
Max Verstappen was disqualified from his NLS2 victory at the Nurburgring after his team used seven sets of tyres.
What initially seemed like another highlight in Max Verstappen’s expanding endurance racing journey ended harshly and unexpectedly. Hours after crossing the finish line at the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) race, the four-time Formula 1 world champion was disqualified.
Verstappen, driving alongside Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon for Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, had taken the chequered flag first in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the 58th ADAC Barbarossapreis, the second round of the 2026 NLS season. However, their celebration was short-lived. About two hours later, race officials announced the car’s disqualification due to a violation of tyre rules. This handed the victory to Dan Harper and Jordan Pepper in the BMW M4 GT3 for ROWE Racing instead.
The decision came after the usual post-race inspection, where data from the series’ tyre monitoring system revealed that the team had used seven sets of tyres, surpassing the six-set limit imposed by NLS regulations. Faced with these facts, race stewards had little choice but to exclude the team from the final standings.
Christian Hohenadel, team principal of Winward Racing, expressed the sting of the disqualification. He acknowledged a team error behind the incident and apologised to supporters, emphasising their intent to analyse what happened and prepare more carefully for future races. “This was our debut as a Mercedes-AMG Performance team on the Nordschleife,” he noted.
Despite the disappointing outcome, Verstappen’s performance on track was hard to ignore. With over 130 cars competing and around 25,000 fans in attendance, the Dutch driver stood out during qualifying, securing pole with a lap time of 7:51.751. Verstappen himself described pole position as a pleasant surprise, especially since he finally managed a clean lap free of traffic.
The race featured intense battling at the front. Christopher Haase pushed early and briefly took the lead, but the Mercedes eventually re-established control. Further behind, ROWE Racing capitalised on a strong strategy, moving up from seventh to claim the win once the disqualification was enforced.
Jordan Pepper remarked on Verstappen’s presence, calling it great for the sport and recognising him as a consummate professional who challenges competitors.
The NLS2 event delivered excitement beyond the lead. Falken Motorsports climbed from tenth to a podium spot, while 48 LOSCH Motorsport by BLACK FALCON enjoyed a revised classification that gave them a top-three finish and victory in the PRO-AM class. Smyrlis Racing took charge of the CUP3 category, and PROsport Racing secured the win in SP10 with its Mercedes-AMG GT4. In the VT2-RWD class, SRS Team Sorg Rennsport earned victory with their Toyota Supra after a tight contest.
Although the final result worked against him, Verstappen’s display reaffirmed his adaptability beyond the confines of Formula 1 machines. Reflecting on the challenge of the Nordschleife, he called it one of the wildest circuits out there and expressed a clear desire to race there as often as possible.
Looking ahead, the next NLS round is scheduled for April 11, as Verstappen continues preparations for the renowned 24 Hours of Nürburgring, where he is expected to compete again. For now, what might have been another celebration at the Nordschleife serves as a reminder of how unforgiving endurance racing’s regulations can be.
HAMILDASHIAN IN TOKYO: LEWIS HAMILTON AND KIM KARDASHIAN FUEL DATING RUMORS IN JAPAN
Kim Kardashian and Lewis Hamilton continue to fuel romance rumours after high-profile dates in the Cotswolds and Tokyo.
Kim Kardashian and Lewis Hamilton turned heads this weekend, strolling through Tokyo together and sparking even more talk about their rumoured romance.
People have been buzzing about these two lately, especially since they’ve popped up together a couple of times. Last month, they were spotted at the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, and before that, fans caught them checking into a luxury hotel in the Cotswolds. Ever since, the whispers about their relationship just keep getting louder.
This time, they're in Tokyo. Hamilton, fresh off the Chinese Grand Prix and gearing up for the Japanese Grand Prix, seemed relaxed and happy hanging out with Kim. Social media lit up with clips of them walking the city streets, waving and smiling at surprised fans.
Hamilton hasn’t missed a beat. He looked cheerful out and about with Kim, even taking the time to wave at fans in photos that quickly made their way online.
Aside from their stroll in Japan, folks saw Hamilton and Kardashian watching this year’s Super Bowl together. After the race in China, Hamilton couldn’t join Kardashian on the Oscars red carpet in Los Angeles, since he had racing commitments. He co-produced the upcoming ‘F1’ movie with Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, which actually snagged an Oscar for Best Sound. Still, he missed the festivities.
As usual, Kim made her annual Oscars appearance. Neither she nor Hamilton has said anything official about the relationship, but insiders suggest the connection started quietly a few months ago.
If you rewind to January, they arrived at Estelle Manor in the Cotswolds with a pretty impressive motorcade before heading to the Super Bowl. When a reporter asked Hamilton about their relationship at the game, he shrugged it off, telling Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz, “It’s my private life; I’m not talking about that.”
