12/02/2021
NEWS STORY
Having got the green light to purchase Honda's IPO, Red Bull is to create an "engine shop" in one of the existing buildings at its Milton Keynes headquarters.
Yesterday's meeting of the F1 Commission, finally saw the teams agree on a freeze on engine development from the start of 2022.
The move essentially gives the green light to Red Bull to take over Honda's engine programme in order to supply the works team and its sister outfit, AlphaTauri.
Had the teams not agreed to the freeze, Red Bull was threatening to leave the sport (again), unwilling to pay for Honda's programme and then spend even more on development or accept the alternative... a return to Renault.
Speaking to Motorsport-Magazin, Helmut Marko has given some insight to the plan moving forward.
"Now everything is happening... now it's starting," he said. "As of today, the course has been set for a new company to be established in Milton Keynes, that will be Red Bull Powertrains.
"Building eight, one of our existing buildings, is being adapted into an engine shop," he added.
While Honda already has a facility in Milton Keynes, Marko says it is not suitable to Red Bull's needs.
"The Honda shop is more geared towards the electric motors," he said. "There are not enough and not even the latest test benches to carry out the necessary optimisation on the motor."
Referring to yesterday's agreement on the freeze, the Austrian insists that the move will benefit fellow manufacturers as there will be no need to run concurrent programmes, one for developing the current engines and another concentrating on the new formula in 2025.
"This is not only good news for us, but also for the whole of Formula 1 in general," he said. "This reduces a considerable cost factor.
"We're crazy," he said of the decision to take on the role of manufacturer, "but we've done the math and calculations.
"It is a one-time investment in the building and in the test benches. But the running costs will not be so much higher than if we had bought an engine elsewhere. It costs more, but not significantly more."