Red Bull is confident of getting enough support from fellow Formula 1 teams for an engine freeze from 2022.
The halt on power unit development is necessary for the company to go ahead with its plan to take over Honda’s engine project from next season, with that deal having already been reached with the Japanese manufacturer last month.
Without it, Red Bull has claimed they could reconsider their future in F1 at the end of 2021, but speaking earlier this month, Marko was optimistic it would not come to that.
“We need six of the 10 votes from the teams, which means only a simple majority,” the Austrian told F1-Insider.com.
“I assume that in addition to Red Bull and AlphaTauri, the three Ferrari teams (Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Haas) and Renault will also agree.”
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Based on that, Marko believes Mercedes, with their three customer teams, could be the only opposition, this despite team boss Toto Wolff claiming it was “necessary” for them to vote in favour of the freeze.
Regardless, new F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has called on all teams to support the freeze.
“For sure, the anticipation of the freeze of the engine is a very important point,” he told reporters last week.
“I don’t want to say only for Red Bull but it is for the entire F1 because, as you know today, the actual regulation around freezing is based on 2023.
“We want to anticipate the freeze because we want to save money to make sure the manufacturers and teams can invest in the new engine. And on the one side, that is a priority for a lot of the manufacturers.
“The discussions that are in place are going in the right direction,” the Italian added. “I don’t want to anticipate anything, but I’m confident everyone will understand the importance of these things happening.
“And I’m hoping everyone realises that is the best choice, for not only for Red Bull but for the entire world of F1.”
A vote on the freeze could come as early as today, with team bosses meeting with the FIA and Liberty Media chiefs via conference call.