Inside Oracle Red Bull Racing’s 2026 power unit: The digital stack powering RBPT and Ford

Oracle Red Bull Racing’s entry into the 2026 regulations comes with the hurdle of building its own powertrain. For the first time in the team’s history, the Milton Keynes outfit is supplying its drivers with an in-house power unit developed in partnership with Ford. To support these substantial changes, the organisation built a digital infrastructure that will help enable the team to be successful from day one. 

In episode four of the Securing the Win podcast, Oracle Red Bull Racing CIO Matt Cadieux lays out how the team has built the information systems, controls, and culture to support Red Bull Powertrains at pace and under a strict cost cap.

“It’s been a lot of fun and also a massive challenge. And I think the strategic decision to build a powertrains company when we had no expertise, no infrastructure, no intellectual property - really brave choice.”

This decision has meant building the digital infrastructure, just like the engine, from scratch.

More ways to engage with the show and 1Password:

Watch the show on YouTube
Listen on all major podcast platforms
Follow us on X, Facebook, and Instagram
Explore more on 1Password.com/Oracle-Red-Bull-Racing

“So I think here it was, early on, understanding: what is the business of powertrains? And talking to the people that we hired and brought in as experts, what are the systems and the tools that you need, and how do you design parts? What simulations do you use?

“And now it's racing. What information do you need? Who's in the ops room? What decisions are they making? And so it's been some overlap with what we do in chassis. But there's lots of nuance and differences between an engine and a chassis.”

This means tighter, faster loops between modelling, simulation, design and operations, with each part of this process owned in-house.

“And so, building all this from scratch, having lots of bright people, it's been a big challenge. But also really interesting. And in the end, we'll end up with control over a power unit and tighter integration with the chassis strategically for performance of the team on the track.”

On top of the tight financial constraints of a cost cap, this new challenge brought another hurdle for the team to overcome.

“When it first started out, I remember there were two people that did simulations that were some of the early first staff that came in on powertrains and like… What do you? What tools do you need? 

“And actually the scope of digital activity, it was probably two to three times bigger than what our first guess was.

Calum Nicholas, Oracle Red Bull Racing Ambassador, Matt Cadieux, Oracle Red Bull Racing CIO

“Knowing nothing about it but knowing enough to be dangerous, we underestimated the challenge, but then as the team built up and more experts came in, we learned quickly.”

Device security and SaaS visibility are pillars of the 2026 plan, with 1Password providing the tools to achieve this.

“1Password is now pervasive throughout. Not only for individuals, but also behind the scenes with some of our system accounts where machines or applications talk to other applications.”

That’s expanding via proofs of concept: “Now we’re looking at other products that 1Password sells: Device Trust and Trelica.”

If you’re into the nuts and bolts of how a modern works team builds a power unit and the digital stack around it, Cadieux gets into the weeds in this episode.