Red Bull will use its own engines from 2022

A few months ago, Honda announced that its future would no longer be in Formula 1. A real blow for the two teams of the Austrian brand, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri, who found themselves without a power unit for 2022.

And the options for engine suppliers were not very numerous. Indeed, Ferrari and Mercedes do not wish to supply engines to their closest competitor, and a return with Renault was not expected after turbulent and tense relations since 2014. Therefore, the best solution for Christian Horner’s team was to buy the plans for the Honda engine in order to develop it themselves in the future and thus no longer need the Japanese brand.

A feat that Red Bull achieved thanks to the help of the FIA, which authorized the freezing of engine development from 2022 until 2025. Without this, the single-seaters of the red bull brand would not have been able to keep up with the technological development of the engines, and therefore this purchase of the Honda engine plans would only have allowed them to perform for one or two seasons.

Red Bull being a Formula 1 team and not an engine manufacturer, the Milton Keynes structure has created a company named Red Bull Powertrains Limited. This will be entirely dedicated to the development of the engine unit.

Christian Horner, the director of Red Bull Racing, is very satisfied with this agreement: « This agreement represents an important step for Red Bull in its Formula 1 journey. We were naturally disappointed when Honda made the decision to leave the sport as an engine manufacturer, as our relationship was an immediate success, but we are grateful for their support in facilitating this new agreement. Honda has invested significantly in hybrid technology to ensure the supply of competitive power units to both teams. »

This new agreement ensures Red Bull’s presence in Formula 1 until 2025 and will allow it to develop custom engines for its cars during this period.