Horner tells Wolff to mind his own business over Red Bull’s F1 engine plans
Ahead of this weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix, Wolff said he believed the door remained open for Volkswagen to enter F1 in a collaboration with Red Bull in the future despite the team’s plans to produce its first-ever in-house power unit when the next generation of engine regulations start in 2025.
Red Bull is creating its own powertrain division at its Milton Keynes base and has already announced its first major signing to lead the project with the capture of Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains chief Ben Hodgkinson.
In March, the BBC reported that Porsche and parent company the Volkswagen Group are considering entering F1 when the next cycle of engine rules begin, and Wolff reckons a tie-up with Red Bull would make sense.
“For me, we can see what the strategy is and it is not stupid,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
"Red Bull is going to attract - on one side they are keen on doing their own power unit but it is no secret that the Volkswagen group, with their two brands, is looking at Formula 1 and has been part of the discussion.
"So they [Red Bull] can decide at any moment whether they want to stick to their own power unit or go with the German manufacturer, a top manufacturer.
"On the other side, the IP arrangement with Honda really makes sense. They are taking over the IP from Honda and developing a new power unit into 2025.
"It could stay within Red Bull power units or it could go to Porsche or Audi. So overall, I think it makes sense what they are doing.”
In a separate interview with Sky Sports F1, Horner responded to Wolff’s comments by advising the Mercedes team principal to focus on his own business.
“Toto always likes to think he knows what's going on in other people's businesses. Perhaps he needs to think about his own,” Horner said.
"Look, we're building a fantastic facility, we've got some great talent coming in," he added. "It's going to be on campus, it's going to be integrated fully with the chassis side of the business.
"We'll be the only team other than Ferrari to have that, and what the engine is called is another matter.
"At the moment, there are no discussions in place. It's focused on being a Red Bull engine, but of course, that engine could be called anything in the future.
"But to have that integrated fully into Milton Keynes is tremendously exciting."
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
