F1 News

The F1 Commission announced last week that teams had unanimously supported a freeze in power unit development from 2022, lasting until the introduction of the new engines in 2025.
The agreement paved the way for Red Bull to take on departing supplier Honda's power units from next year, announcing the formation of Red Bull Powertrains on Monday.
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Red Bull has formed a powertrain company after agreeing to take over the intellectual property of Honda’s power unit once the Japanese auto-maker exits Formula one at the end of this year.

This move has been announced just days after the F1 Commission voted in favour of a freeze on engine development from 2022.

READ: Haas Expecting ‘Tough Year’, Already Prioritising 2022 Car

Dr Helmut Marko, a senior Red Bull advisor, said last month that the team and Honda had reached a deal and were just waiting on an engine freeze to be agreed, as they needed development to be halted to prevent them from quickly falling behind rival power unit suppliers.

“The Red Bull-Honda agreement covers the duration of the development freeze, enabling the use of Honda power unit technology in both Red Bull Racing and, sister team, Scuderia AlphaTauri’s cars until the next generation engines are introduced in 2025,” Red Bull Racing said in a statement on Monday.

It added that the new company, Red Bull Powertrains Limited, will be housed in the team’s existing facilities in Milton Keynes.

Commenting on the move, Dr Marko said: “We have been discussing this topic with Honda for some time and following the FIA’s decision to freeze power unit development from 2022, we could at last reach an agreement regarding the continued use of Honda’s hybrid power units.

“We are grateful for Honda’s collaboration in this regard and for helping to ensure that both Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri continue to have competitive power units.

“The establishment of Red Bull Powertrains Limited is a bold move by Red Bull but it is one we have made after careful and detailed consideration.

“We are aware of the huge commitment required but we believe the creation of this new company is the most competitive option for both teams,” he added.

Meanwhile, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner described the deal as a “significant step for Red Bull in its Formula One journey” and said they will be pushing hard in their final season with Honda power.

“We were understandably disappointed when Honda made the decision to leave the sport as an engine manufacturer, as our relationship yielded immediate success, but we are grateful for their support in facilitating this new agreement,” Horner said.

“Honda has invested significantly in hybrid technology to ensure the supply of competitive power units to both teams.

“We now begin the work of bringing the power unit division in-house and integrating the new facilities and personnel into our Technology Campus.

“In the meantime, we are fully focused on achieving the best possible results in what will be Honda’s final season as an official power unit supplier,” he concluded.

READ: Red Bull Confirm Max Verstappen Could Join Mercedes In 2022

The post Red Bull Forms Powertrain Company After Reaching Deal With Honda appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

The Milton Keynes-based team has agreed a deal to take on the Honda engine project for next year as part of a move that has led to the creation of Red Bull Powertrains.

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Formula 1 teams have an informal agreement to ensure no power unit manufacturer is disadvantaged by the incoming freeze on development, according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

Red Bull is not seeking a sponsor to brand its power units from next year when it takes over running its Honda-developed F1 engines.

Honda announced at the beginning of October that it would be ending its involvement in F1 at the end of the 2021 season, but was open to allowing Red Bull to continue to run its power units beyond this date.
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Red Bull and its sister team AlphaTauri will continue using Honda's power units until Formula 1's new engine rules are introduced in 2025, the teams have confirmed.

For with teams forced to carry over their chassis from last season to this one, as part of cost-saving measures introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the scope for radical overhauls are quite limited.
But McLaren will be a different story though, for its switch from Renault to Mercedes engines has forced it to do quite a lot with its upgraded car.
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Ever since Honda announced at the start of October that it would be ending its involvement in F1 after 2021, Red Bull had been pushing hard to get an engine freeze implemented.
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Max Verstappen could be free to join Mercedes or another rival team in 2022 if Red Bull are unable to provide the Dutch ace with a strong package this upcoming season, Dr Helmut Marko has confirmed.

It has long been speculated that a so-called “performance clause” in Verstappen’s Red Bull contract could allow him to leave the Milton Keynes-based racing outfit prior to his deal expiring at the end of the 2023 season.

READ: Toto Wolff Wary Of Lewis Hamilton’s ‘Shelf Life’

And, with Dr Marko confirming the existence of such a clause, and Sir Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas only signing one-year deals, there is a good chance Verstappen will race with the Silver Arrows next year.

“Yes, there is a performance clause,” Dr Marko, a senior Red Bull advisor, replied when questioned about the clause by F1 Insider this week.  

“I don’t want to go into details, but it more or less says that Max can compete for race wins and the World Championship on his own merits.

“If he can do that, his contract is extended. If not, he would be free [to join another F1 team].”

The Austrian didn’t specify how exactly this clause could be triggered and how close Red Bull needs to be to the front-running team in 2021 to prevent Verstappen from leaving at the end of the season.

The same publication reported that, for Red Bull to prevent Verstappen from activating the clause, their 2021 challenger must be within 0.3 seconds of the fastest car.

Dr Marko said he believes Red Bull can “fulfil the clause” and thus guarantee the Dutch ace’s services at the team for the following season.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff previously ruled out a Hamilton-Verstappen driver line-up, but it has been speculated that the Brit would likely retire at the end of this upcoming season if he breaks Michael Schumacher’s record by winning his eighth title.

So, a Verstappen-Bottas or Verstappen-Russell driver line-up at Mercedes may well be on the cards for 2022.   

READ: Nikita Mazepin Reckons He & Mick Schumacher Will Be Evenly Matched

The post Red Bull Confirm Max Verstappen Could Join Mercedes In 2022 appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

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The German car manufacturer is chasing an eighth consecutive F1 title double this season, having been undefeated during the turbo hybrid era.
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After completing a first fire-up of the new car for the 2021 season on Friday morning, Ferrari announced that it would be holding two launch events in the coming weeks ahead of the new season.
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McLaren has not won a Formula 1 race since 2012 but remains one of the most successful teams in the championship's history.
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