Red Bull weighs up new Honda plan
Red Bull could take on Honda’s engine project after the Japanese manufacturer’s exit from Formula 1 at the end of 2021, if its rivals agree to a development freeze.
Honda announced last month that it would be quitting F1 at the end of next season, leaving Red Bull and sister team Alphatauri in search of a new engine supplier for 2022 and beyond. With Mercedes already ruling out a potential link-up with Red Bull, the options seem limited as only Ferrari and the team’s former partner Renault are alternative power-unit suppliers.
But Red Bull F1 advisor Helmut Marko has confirmed that the team could stick with the Honda engine.
“We would favour, provided the talks with Honda are positive, that we take over the IP rights and everything that is necessary, to then prepare and deploy the engines ourselves in Milton Keynes [where the team is based],” said Marko on German TV channel Sport1.
But this would be dependent upon the FIA agreeing to an engine freeze coming into force from the start of 2022, ensuring there would be no need for Red Bull to develop the power units any further. Marko made clear that
Red Bull “cannot afford further development, neither technically nor financially”, making the engine freeze “a prerequisite” for any continued use of the Honda.
The move would offer Red Bull a solution to its engine-supply conundrum without having to rely on any of the other existing manufacturers, as well as ensuring it is not demoted to customer status by taking engines from a rival. “All engine manufacturers have their own team and that means they develop the engine around their chassis,” said Marko.
“We would get something where we would have to adapt our chassis and our ideas secondary, and we would be confronted with a technical solution that we would have to accept. That’s why the
Honda solution is [our favourite]. Nevertheless, we are exploring all possibilities.”
Honda F1 managing director Masashi Yamamoto said over the recent Eifel Grand Prix weekend that the Milton Keynes base for its engine operations was a “blank slate” for Red Bull should it step up its interest, bu that “nothing is decided.”
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner highlighted the “enormous” costs involved in an engine supply deal, and questioned whether F1 may need to hasten plans to introduce a new engine formula in 2026, calling Honda’s exit a “real wake-up call”.
But were his cost fears to be allayed by the potential engine freeze Marko is pushing for, it could be possible for Red Bull to continue to use the power units that Honda has already confirmed it will develop fully until the end of next year. Such a move would require approval from the FIA and the other three engine suppliers to be ratified in time for the 2022 season.
Barring a continued use of Honda’s engine, the most likely solution for Red Bull would appear to be a reunion with Renault, which supplied the team from 2007-18. Renault F1 chief Cyril Abiteboul said at the Nurburgring he doubted that Red Bull would have learned of its Honda split without having a Plan B in place. Renault would be required to supply Red Bull in 2022 should it make a request under F1’s regulations.
Marko felt there would be no issue with working with an existing manufacturer so long as it gave Red Bull the opportunity to be competitive. “According to the FIA regulations, every engine manufacturer has committed itself to supplying other teams,” said Marko. “If something like this is to be a possibility, then it must fit the overall situation, and it must make us competitive. A happy forced marriage is not an issue for us.”
ALBON YET TO SECURE SEAT FOR 2021
While Red Bull may be in no rush to finalise its engine plans beyond 2021, the team has a shorter timeframe to decide who will be Max Verstappen’s team-mate next year. Alexander Albon faced a fresh wave of questions about his future after a disappointing outing at the Eifel Grand Prix in which he struggled early on before a clumsy run-in with Daniil Kvyat.
It emerged after the race that Red Bull had spoken to Nico Hulkenberg – who would go on to deputise for Lance Stroll at Racing Point – about racing at the Nurburgring after Albon initially returned an inconclusive COVID-19 test result.
Discussing driver options for next year, Marko said: “We can call the names that are available on the market. This is Hulkenberg and this is Perez.
The question is how far away they would be from
Max. On good days, Albon is able to create this proximity to Max. Albon is young, but we are aware that if he can’t stand the pressure, we can’t afford to be standing on one leg when it comes to the world championship. That is the situation.”
“Our engine can be good for four more years,” Honda’s Yamamoto tells Marko