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Red Bull may withdraw from Formula 1 if it cannot find a “competitive” alternative to the power of Honda.
That’s the warning from Dr. Helmut Marko, the Austrian official closest to the billionaire owner of Red Bull and Alpha Tauri, Dietrich Mateschitz.
Honda shocked the F1 world last Friday (October 2) by announcing its decision to resign after 2021.
Marko told Auto Motor und Sport that Red Bull will not be able to attract a new engine manufacturer to Formula 1.
“Nobody wants to make such an effort for a period of only four years until the next regulation,” he said. “And everyone knows by now that you can’t go in and be competitive right away.
“Hybrid technology is too complicated and expensive for that.”
Marko said the cost of being in F1 was a factor in Honda’s decision to retire.
“We should have cut costs earlier,” he lamented.
“Starting in 2022, you will need a new cylinder head to run the engine on 20 percent biofuel. And then another new engine in 2023 on 100 percent electronic fuels.
“They are additional costs those that do not contribute anything to the public”.
How do you think F1 would be affected if Red Bull left the sport? Could it also mean that Max Verstappen could move to Mercedes? Email us your thoughts here.
As for what Red Bull will do next, your options are to buy a customer engine from an existing manufacturer or buy the IP in Honda’s 2021 engine and take on that project as well.
“It’s true that we can get one engine. But we don’t necessarily want all of us,” Marko said.
Indeed, a deal with Mercedes seems unlikely and Ferrari’s engine is currently uncompetitive.
Marko said: “Formula 1 cannot afford for Ferrari to drive in the lower midfield forever.
“If we go to Renault, we get an engine that they build according to their needs. Tailor-made for their chassis. That is again a commitment for us.”
Many think that the most likely option is for Red Bull to take over Honda’s engine IP.
“The problem would start in 2022,” Marko said. “We would have to convert the engine to biofuel immediately, and we know how complex all this technology is.
These are factors that we have to take into account ”.
Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that Red Bull will follow Honda out of Formula 1. “If we can’t find a competitive solution, that’s an option,” admitted Marko.
“Max has a competitive engine in his contract, but that is also our premise. Without an engine with which we can win the world championship, the project is not interesting for us.”
