Horner provides update on Red Bull-Porsche talks

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner addressed the speculation that erupted this week around his team's potential future partnership with Porsche.

An anti-trust legal document related to a joint venture between Red Bull and Porsche and filed by the latter in a list of countries around the world was inadvertently made public by Morocco’s Conseil de la Concurrence.

The filed prospectus essentially details the terms of the partnership between the German manufacture which is seeking to enter Formula 1 and its prospective partner, Red Bull Technologies, the company that operates the energy drink's F1 teams.

The document revealed that a 50% partnership between the two parties is in the works, a piece of information that Horner would neither confirm nor deny when questioned on the topic by Sky F1 in Hungary on Friday.

• Read also: Porsche to take 50% stake in Red Bull F1 operation!

However, the Red Bull chief did provide a status of his team's talks with Porsche, its potential future engine supplier and partner.

"Well obviously [there’s been] plenty of speculation and I think I’ve said numerous times that we’re engaged with constructive discussions with Porsche," Horner said.

"I think for Porsche to come into Formula 1, it would be a really positive thing. But there’s so many caveats to that, there’s the regulations to sort out.

"We’re only at the very beginning of a process where discussions can begin.

"But the first actual hurdle for any new manufacturer coming in is those technical regulations for the Power Unit for 2026 onward."

The FIA is expected to publish Formula 1's 2026 power unit regulations in early August, meaning in the coming days. After which it is expected that Porsche, and perhaps its sister VW brand Audi, will publicly divulge their F1 plans.

Horner said that Red Bull Powertrains, the Milton Keynes-based outfit's new engine department, is following its normal course of development.

"I think we’re in a great position, the team is very strong. Red Bull Powertrains is going from strength to strength," added Horner.

"We’ve recruited some more great talents, some more announcements coming out soon, some significant recruitments into the team.

"For us we’re on a journey, where that takes us in the future, if we decide to take on a partner, only time will tell.

"We’re in great shape and looking forward to exactly what these new regulations say on a sporting, technical but most importantly, financial basis."

On the financial aspect of F1's 2026 engine regulations, Horner insists new manufacturers coming into the sport - such as Red Bull Powertrains - must be allowed over time to match the investment made by the sport's incumbents.

"Coming into Formula 1 as a newcomer, particularly on the powertrains side, discussions are ongoing, we have to have a glide path that we can get to a facility that matches decades of investment from our competitors," he said.

"We want to make sure we can play on a level playing field.

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