Honda seems to be more involved in Red Bull’s F1 program after 2022 than previously thought.
Officially Honda has withdrawn from F1 and is no longer a Red Bull works partner. Red Bull intended to use the intellectual property rights of Honda’s F1 engines this year and beyond while building its own engine division, the Red Bull Powertrain.
But Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko says those plans have changed.
“We don’t have to touch the engine until 2025 because the engine comes entirely from Japan,” Helmut Marko told Autorevue.
“Therefore, intellectual property rights remain with Honda, after which we will be newcomers under the new regulations of 2026.”
Other than that, Helmut Marko said preparations for 2022 are on schedule, including the construction of the Red Bull Powertrains project.
“We’re off to a good start and we’ll be up and running around the summer,” Helmut Marko said.
“In the first place, the decision to do it ourselves relied purely on freezing further development, otherwise we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do such complex things.”
However, the Honda logo is likely to remain on the 2022 F1 car, and many of the same Honda staff will remain in the Red Bull garage in 2022.
“There was a rethink at Honda,” admitted Helmut Marko.
“They realized that they could use their knowledge of F1 batteries in regular cars.”
“Of course, this is great for us, which means you only have to calibrate and tweak yourself.”
Despite the last-minute changes, Helmut Marko still expects Red Bull to be at the same level as the Mercedes F1 in 2022, and believes the other teams are still behind.
“The resources Red Bull and Mercedes have, such as stirdaards, simulators and computers, are simply unmatched,” said Helmut Marko.
“No, we simply don’t believe in Brawn GP scenarios.”
“Ferrari will probably compete several times for victory. The steps taken with the engine over the past year have been very clear to everyone.”
“But all I can actually see is our own progress, which is very promising. Still, I hope the field will be a little closer.”
“In principle, they were lapping the entire field when driving at full throttle,” Helmut Marko said, referring to F1 World Champion Max Verstappen and rival Lewis Hamilton.
Category: Category: F1 / Red bull