Red Bull has “fully embraced” the challenge of launching its own Powertrains division, team boss Christian Horner says.
The Austrian energy drinks giant had decided to capitalise on current engine supplier Honda’s decision to withdraw and Formula 1’s new budget cap to push ahead with the production of their own power units from next season.
It’s a move born out of years of dissatisfaction with Renault after the hybrid formula was introduced in 2014 and a validation of the rapid progress made by Honda since splitting with McLaren after 2017.
“We are assembling an exceptionally talented group of people together and we are only at the beginning of that journey,” said Horner.
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“It is a big challenge but it is an exciting challenge and it is one we have fully embraced.
“Other than Ferrari, it makes us the only team to produce both the chassis and engine in house and have a fully integrated solution between both technical teams. That is particularly exciting and attractive.
“We have, effectively, a soft landing thanks to the IP usage that we have a principle agreement with Honda for.
“It is exciting times. It puts Red Bull in a truly unique situation to have everything housed on one campus under one roof and to make use of those synergies.
“With cost caps potentially coming in for powertrains, it makes that achievable for a company such as our own.”
Offering his first comments on Red Bull’s plan, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff saw the logic but also teased the team could make a future return to working with a manufacturer.
“Honestly for me, we can see what the strategy is and it’s not stupid. Red Bull is going dual track,” claimed the Austrian.
“They are on one side keen on doing their own power unit, but it’s no secret that the Volkswagen Group with their two brands is looking at Formula 1 and has been part of the discussion. So they can at any moment decide whether they want to stick to their own power unit or go with a top manufacturer.
“On the other side, the arrangement that they have on the IP side with Honda really makes sense. They are taking over the IP from Honda and obviously developing the new power unit into 2025. It could stay within Red Bull power units or it goes to Porsche-Audi. So overall it makes sense what they do.”
More recently, there has been a back and forth taking place between Red Bull and Mercedes after 15 former employees at the German manufacturer joined the Milton Keynes outfit in senior roles, including Ben Hodgkinson as technical director.
Wolff was quick to downplay the significance of the departures, however, claiming it was only a small portion of those their rivals had tried to employ with “loyal” staff rejecting big-money offers to switch sides.
“We are talking about people mostly in roles related to production, not performance,” he told Motorsport.com of those Red Bull had hired.
“If I had to set up a new factory I would start this way too. But from hiring a few people to having a complete, functioning and competitive engine factory, there is a long way to go.
“15 guys and an empty building site construction is not going to be sufficient in order to be competitive in three years with a new power unit.”
At the same time, Toto doesn’t want to say Red Bull Powertrains won’t pose a threat going forward.
“I think Red Bull can succeed, they have the resources to do it,” he continued. “But Mercedes, like the other engine manufacturers, have been here for decades, working season after season to optimise their facilities.
“That said, we are taking them very seriously because they are a great team and they have the finances. But we are convinced of one thing – Formula 1 takes time and no money can accelerate the learning curve essential for these projects.”
As for the raid on Mercedes engine personnel, Red Bull boss Christian Horner defended the decision.
“The UK is a hotbed of talent,” he said via The Race. “And not just British talent, but other nationalities.
“Now the senior structure’s in place, we can start to look at building departments beneath them.
“People are coming because they want to work in an integrated team. It’s a clean sheet of paper. It’s an exciting project. They’ve seen when Red Bull does things, they do things properly, and it’s very much integrated as one team.
“They’ve obviously achieved so much over the last 15-20 years at HPP, which grew out of Ilmor, it’s only natural that we will look to attract talent from the very best.”