Red Bull given wings until 2024

The F1 Commission’s positive decision regarding an engine development freeze until the end of the 2024 season obviously came as a great relief to the Red Bull and Alpha Tauri teams, who were faced with the daunting task of obtaining a customer power unit for the 2022 season.

The decision allowed the Austrian-based organisation to proceed with the plan to purchase the “intellectual property rights” of the Honda power unit allowing its production at the Red Bull complex, situated at Milton Keynes in the UK. The freeze means no major engine upgrades or redesigns will be permitted until the introduction of the “less complex and less expensive” unit scheduled to arrive in 2025.

The astronomical cost of continual development of the highly complex hybrid power units currently in use was the issue for Red Bull. They stated it would not be feasible to purchase the Honda power unit rights and then face the massive financial burden of “keeping up with the Joneses”.

So, with these issues resolved it will be full steam ahead to equip and staff a new facility. Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, was reported as saying: “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.

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

Dr Helmut Marko, Red Bull motorsport adviser, was quoted as saying: “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.”

Marko had previously said the future of Red Bull and Scuderia Alpha Tauri depended on a positive decision from the F1 Commission as no other power unit supplier would be possible. Renault was not even considered after the previous acrimonious situation between the two partners. He suggested it could signal the end of Red Bull in F1 – not the first time we’ve heard that.

A question concerning Red Bull Powertrains Limited: what is the future? The costs of establishing the company cannot easily be amortised as it will initially be purely a case of in-house only supply. All other teams are currently contracted with Mercedes and Ferrari.

Renault has no customer teams to supply – a sad situation when one reflects on the improvements in performance demonstrated by the factory team and McLaren in 2020. The cost of purchasing the Honda power units from Japan will be a thing of the past, or will it? Perhaps this is dependent on the contractual terms of purchase.

There may be a cost per unit levy and it will require some time, if ever, before all component parts are sourced from the team’s facility. One must wonder whether the current power unit and component parts will face a limited in house production life as thoughts of developing the new generation unit for 2025 must be uppermost in future planning.

It is a very ambitious move from Red Bull. The possible marketing outlets for their new product will be limited by the size of future F1 fields or the possible withdrawal of a current supplier. It is worth considering the fact that Mercedes, Renault, Honda and Ferrari are all major automotive manufacturers and some of their hybrid technology developed in F1 will possibly filter down to the production line.

To my knowledge the only car from the Red Bull stable was the joint venture with Aston Martin of the Valkyrie Hypercar, which is a very limited production run. It will be interesting to follow the progress of the Red Bull Powertrain company, both on the circuits of the world and perhaps as a hybrid technology supplier to the automotive industry.

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