Decision 'will be made soon' on Red Bull's engine plans

Red Bull motorsports consultant Dr Helmut Marko says that the team will be making a decision 'soon' about its future engine plans.

The team won four back-to-back championships with Renault engines in the years before the modern hybrid era, but split with the French manufacturer in 2018 after a 12-year association.

The team subsequently switched to Honda but was rocked by the company's decision to pull out of F1 in 2021, just as Max Verstappen was heading to his maiden F1 world championship title.

• Read also: Marko sees Ferrari weakened by Binotto/Vasseur switch

Yet despite formally pulling out of the sport, Honda have continued to supply legacy power units to the team, which this year romped to the constructors championship as well as a second drivers title for Verstappen.

The current arrangement will continue until the end of 2025, at which point new engine regulations require a totally redesigned power unit. Red Bull has been ramping up internal resources to bring the development in house.

But on the meantime, management changes at Honda and the success of the current engine has now lead the Japanese manufacturer to reconsider its decision.

“It’s a tense situation that has a history,” Marko told German motorsport publication Auto Motor und Sport this week.

“When Honda announced its withdrawal two years ago, we would have had nothing at all in the first phase. Honda didn’t even want to supply the existing engine.

"We were able to gradually transform that into a cooperation as we see it today," he continued. “At the same time, to safeguard the future, we set up our own engine plant."

That has taken the form of a state of the art facility situated in a brand new building in Milton Keynes, equipped with the latest test benches and measuring instruments from powertrain specialist engineering firm AVL.

For the intervening period using legacy Honda power units, the new Red Bull Powertrains division has been working remotely with Honda's base in Sakura.

“When it came to deciding who would do what from 2026, things got difficult," Marko explained. "It was planned that Honda would only do the electrical part, but we didn’t come to a common denominator.

"But let’s see. A decision will be made soon.”

Marko also repeated that they would have to "wait and see" when it came to the question of whether Red Bull would seek a new engine partner for 2026, with Audi top of the list.

Mercedes and Ferrari will continue to develop their own engines, while Alpine are the de facto team, for Renault. But complicating the picture is the possible future role for Honda.

Starting its own works team seems very unlikely, but the manufacturer could seek to buy out or partner with an existing team, as Audi have opted to do with Sauber which currently operates the Alfa Romeo-branded race squad.

Honda could even end up back with McLaren, despite a short-lived catastrophic arrangement when Honda originally returned to F1 in 2015. For now though, the Honda name has returned to Red Bull's entry details regarding engines.

Honda Racing F1 Technical Director Toyoharu Tanabe and Honda Racing F1 Managing Director Masashi Yamamoto in parc ferme in 2021

But one possibility Marko can definitely rule out is Honda buying Red Bull's sister team Alphatauri team.

“When Honda comes back, they need a top team,” Marko stated. “That can’t be AlphaTauri, especially if there are no longer any synergies with us if we have a different engine.

“And when I ask around, every engine manufacturer, from Audi to Renault, wants a second team. There’s not much left for Honda.”

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