Red Bull wants F1 engine decision finalised by end of 2020 season

Red Bull wants to have made a decision on its power unit situation for 2022 onwards by the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season, according to team principal Christian Horner.

Honda shocked the F1 world by announcing it will quit the championship at the end of the 2022 season, leaving Red Bull and its sister team AlphaTauri seeking a new engine partner.

Red Bull seemingly has few options at its disposal, with Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault left as the three sole-remaining power unit manufacturers beyond 2022.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Eifel Grand Prix, Horner stressed that Red Bull’s aspirations do not match that of becoming a customer team.

“We need to consider all our options,” Horner said. “A team like Red Bull is not a standard customer team. The team’s aspirations are extremely high, it wants to win and it wants to win and compete for world championships.

“So, we need to take our time and do our due diligence on the options that are available to us in order to finalise our thinking certainly by the end of the season and most definitely by the end of the year.

“Obviously we need to consider all the options and then make decisions from that.”

F1’s regulations state that Renault – as the manufacturer with the fewest customers – would have to supply Red Bull with power units if no alternative option is found.

There have also been suggestions that Red Bull could continue to use the Honda power unit by creating its own in-house engine development division, though Horner pointed towards the huge costs such a project would entail.

“We have to look at all the options and take the time in order to do that,” Horner explained. “Red Bull needs a competitive engine, it’s aspirations are not just that of a customer team.

“But when you look at the costs involved in the engine supply, they are enormous. And that’s why Formula 1 has failed in its attempts to attract new suppliers and new manufacturers into the sport.

“So it brings into real focus those cost-drivers through the regulations. I think Honda’s withdrawal is a real shame for F1 but it’s also a wake-up call.

“I think we really need to consider whether 2026 is too far away for an introduction of a new engine? What will that technology be and what should it be?

“Those are the questions that need to be answered quickly in order to give a roadmap to what the future of the sport is.”

Asked how seriously Red Bull would consider continuing with Honda’s engine in 2022, Horner replied: “We’ve got to consider all of our options.

“A team like Red Bull is a winning team. We’re the only team in the hybrid era that has won with two different power units.

“We’ve gave Honda it’s first podium and first victory in the hybrid era, as we did for Renault with their hybrid.

“We have to weigh up all the options and what will give us the most competitive package for 2022 onwards.”