24/10/2015
NEWS STORY
Christian Horner has confirmed that Red Bull was in talks with Volkswagen before emissions scandal broke.
Whilst Volkswagen, and its various brands, have been linked with F1 for as long as anyone can remember, the German giant always dismissing the speculation, in the late summer reports in the German media suggested the engine crisis at Red Bull might have finally caused a change of attitude.
It was claimed that Audi, which is owned by Volkswagen, was to take over the Austrian team and would in turn be sponsored by the Red Bull energy drink. However, days later the emissions scandal broke and suddenly, apart from having things other than F1 on its mind, Volkswagen, already having a third wiped off of its stock market value, was facing fines and lawsuits that would cost it billions.
Speaking in Austin, Christian Horner finally confirmed that talks had taken place between the two companies.
"As is publicly known, there has been discussion with the VW Group which obviously, with their current issues probably Formula One is the last thing on their mind," he said. "There were other discussions that will become apparent no doubt in the future as well, other promises that were made.
"There's an awful lot of speculation and conjecture about our situation at the moment," he added. "Once everything is finalised I'm sure it will all become extremely clear."
Though he was unable (and unwilling) to shed further light on whether Red Bull will remain in F1 or walk away, the Briton appeared optimistic that a solution will be found and the team will continue to race.
"For me it's not an option," he said, "we have to find a solution and I'm working very hard to ensure that the team's on the grid and competitive for next year and beyond."
Asked if he might 'do a Ross Brawn' and take control of the team, Horner made it clear that any decision regarding the future of the team is down to Dietrich Mateschitz.
"It's his team at the end of the day," he said. "He recognises the commitment and the skill and determination that's within the team. Again, he wants to find a solution going forward. He's committed to helping that and behind the scenes is obviously involved in numerous discussions to try and facilitate that."
Asked if Mateschitz might still say 'enough is enough', Horner admitted: "That could still be his prerogative, that could still be his decision to do that. Indeed, if we don't have an engine then we can't race but my position, as team principal of the team feeling the responsibility for the in excess of 800 employees that we have, is to ensure that we're on the grid and we're racing and we're racing competitively next year so therefore I'm working hard to try and ensure that we have a solution.
"This weekend is our 200th Grand Prix," he continued, "and when you look at what Red Bull's achieved in that period of time, 25 per cent of those races have been won, more than 100 podiums, four drivers', four constructors' championships. It's been a tremendously successful period for Red Bull.
"My objective is very clear: it's to keep the current status quo running for the foreseeable future. Ultimately the final decision lies with Dietrich but he is an utmost fan of the sport, otherwise he would never have committed the kind of funds that are required to be competitive in Formula One. He's been involved in Formula One, not just as a team owner for the last ten years but ten years prior to that as an investor in the Sauber team and prior to that as a sponsor. He's invested in a lot of young drivers that owe their careers to Red Bull and his vision, and I believe that discussions of other shareholding or change of shareholding... they're not applicable at the moment. The focus is purely on finding a solution to our engine predicament, that we can move forward for next year and the future."
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