When Red Bull had an agreement with Mercedes for its engines
Helmut Marko, Red Bull's advisor, mentioned a "handshake agreement" in 2014 with Niki Lauda, then non-executive chairman of Mercedes, to switch to Mercedes engines. An agreement broken by Toto Wolff.
Formula 1 took a turn in 2014 with the entry into the era of turbo hybrids. Crowned four times with Sebastian Vettel (2010-2013), Red Bull and its Renault engine saw Mercedes monopolize the top of the driver’s championship in the seven seasons that followed. The Austrian team quickly felt the difficulties it was going to face with its French engine.
Invited on the podcast Inside Line, Helmut Marko mentioned the difficulties of the Renault hybrid V6 compared to the V8 that powered Red Bull since 2007: “In 2014 […] unfortunately, our engine supplier was not able to make a competitive engine,” he laments. The Austrian team had to search for a new supplier.
The Mercedes attempt
One of the options considered by Red Bull was to equip themselves with a Mercedes engine. There was a great rivalry with Mercedes, and our boss [Dietrich Mateschitz] was not a big fan. I said, “Listen, with our engine, we can’t motivate people anymore, because everyone knows that with this engine, we can’t win”, Marko explains. Discussions could then be initiated.
Addressing the non-executive director at the time at Mercedes, Niki Lauda, Helmut Marko reached an initial unofficial agreement that did not materialize. “We had an agreement with Mercedes, a handshake agreement with Lauda, which was not supported by Toto [Wolff], so the agreement did not happen,” confesses the doctor.
Visit to Honda in 2019
Red Bull finally pursued a collaboration marked by tensions with Renault, until 2019. The team then partnered with the Japanese from Honda, opening a new era for the team. It finally found its way back to success in 2021 with Max Verstappen’s driver championship title and the constructors’ championship the following year.
However, the bet was daring according to Helmut Marko: « Honda, at this stage, was not able to compete with McLaren, but I had privileged information on what they planned to do, so we said, “Yes, we are moving forward. We are taking this risk ».
After the engine manufacturer’s withdrawal from F1 in 2021, Red Bull is developing its own Honda engine division. For the new engine regulations coming into effect in 2026, Red Bull will develop its own engines in collaboration with its partner Ford.
