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Christian Horner has hinted that Red Bull taking over Honda’s abandoned Formula 1 engine project is among the options being considered post-2021, but would not comment on the idea directly.
Honda has decided to leave F1 at the end of next season and while that means Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri need to establish a succession plan, their present engine partner has promised to help the transition if it can.
As revealed by The Race earlier this week, that includes Honda being open to making its engine technology available to Red Bull to facilitate a continuation project with independent support.
Red Bull team principal Horner faced many direct questions about using Honda’s engines beyond 2022 in the FIA’s Friday press conference ahead of the Eifel Grand Prix.
Though he did not say outright that Red Bull is considering such an option, he did not rule it out and suggested it fell within the remit of considering “all options” and that returning to a simple customer relationship did not appeal.
He also said that Honda’s exit is a “wake-up” call because Red Bull – which will make its decision on what to do by the end of this year – does not have another engine manufacturer to turn to because there are no new participants expected to join Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault before 2026 at the earliest.
Asked by The Race how practical and appealing a Honda continuation project would be, Horner said: “As I said we have to look at all of the options, and we have to take the time in order to do that.
“Red Bull needs a competitive engine. Its aspirations are not just that of a customer team but when you look at the costs involved in the engine supply, they are enormous.
“That’s why Formula 1 has failed in its attempt to attract new engine suppliers, new manufacturers into the sport.
“So it brings into real focus those cost drivers through the regulations. Honda’s withdrawal is a real shame for Formula 1 but it’s also a wake-up call.
“And I think that we really need to consider is whether 2026 is too far away for the introduction of a new engine? What will that technology be? What should it be?
“They are questions that are going to need to be answered quickly in order to give a roadmap to what the future of the sport is.”
“In this sport sometimes the unexplainable can can happen. It’s our duty to look at what is the most competitive way forward in 2022″ :: Christian Horner
Honda will develop a new engine for 2021, brought forward from 2022, to try to sign off with Red Bull with a title challenge.
That would therefore give Red Bull a fresh engine design to take over and develop rather than inherit an older product with less performance or potential.
When asked by The Race if, in the context of the costs of F1’s current engine rules, the Honda opportunity represents the most logical or practical chance for Red Bull to take on its own engine project, Horner said: “It’s like all things, you’ve got to consider all possibilities, you’ve got to be open to all possibilities.
“We’ve seen in this sport that sometimes the unexplainable can can happen. And it’s our duty to look at what is the most competitive way forward in 2022.
“We have the time, Honda has afforded us that time. If they’d have made this decision in the spring of next year or in the autumn of next year it would have been a far worse scenario for us.
“We’re only just halfway through the relationship with Honda, and we’ve achieved a lot in the time that we’ve been together.
“We aim to achieve a lot more in the remaining time that we have together.
“And obviously there’s the bigger questions that need to be answered between now and the end of the year.”
Honda remains open to discussing the options with Red Bull. Its F1 managing director Masashi Yamamoto said it was a “blank slate” in terms of what could be agreed for 2022 onwards including letting Red Bull take over its Milton Keynes facility, a few miles from Red Bull Advanced Technologies’ headquarters.
“It could be that the conversation with Christian is something that we have going forward. But at the moment, nothing is decided,” said Yamamoto.
“A team like Red Bull has big aspirations. We have a big regulation change coming for 2022. The engine plays an integral role within that” :: Christian Horner
Asked again if Red Bull would consider a Honda takeover of some kind, Horner reiterated Red Bull’s need to “consider all of our options”, underlined the importance of creating a successful package particularly as 2022 coincides with new car technical rules, and returned to the topic of F1 needing to confront flawed engine regulations.
“A team like Red Bull has big aspirations,” said Horner.
“It’s a winning team, we’re the only team in Formula 1 in the hybrid era that has won with two power units, we gave Honda its first podium, its first victory in the hybrid era, as we did for Renault.
“So we have to weigh up all of the options, and what will give us the most competitive package for 2022 onwards. We have a big regulation change coming for 2022.
“The engine plays an integral role within that. We will take the time to discuss with the manufacturers, discuss with the FIA, discuss with Liberty in terms of what their thoughts are for the future as well.
“Obviously it’s bad news for the sport that a manufacturer such as Honda has decided to withdraw for the reasons that they have.”
A return to former engine partner Renault, which Red Bull fell out with bitterly before their split at the end of 2018, seems its only option for a simple supply deal.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has ruled out doing business with Red Bull while Ferrari Mattia Binotto was non-committal over the prospect.
“Well there are no new manufacturers lining up to come into Formula 1,” said Horner.
“Toto obviously made it clear that Mercedes are not keen to supply an engine, so that limits your choice to two current suppliers in the sport.
“We need to take the time to do our due diligence. We want to compete and we want to win world championships, that’s the reason that Red Bull is in the sport.
“That’s what it’s here to do and we can only do that with a competitive power unit.”
