The championship’s top team currently uses engines designed and assembled by Honda following the Japanese manufacturer’s official withdrawal from F1 at the end of 2021, and will continue to use these engines until the end of the current rules cycle in 2025. Red Bull has set up a new Powertrains company to build its first in-house F1 engine for 2026 and that facility has already grown to more than 300 staff. Porsche had hoped to strike a deal with Red Bull to be an equal engine and team partner from 2026 onwards, but talks broke down as Red Bull did not want to give up any control. The reason these negotiations broke down is that Red Bull felt they didn’t need another manufacturer’s input and therefore dictated terms to suit their own interests, rather than accept a compromise more in favor of Porsche. While Red Bull Powertrains has been equipped with high-tech equipment to ensure it produces a quality Red Bull engine in 2026, its main achievement so far is producing a first V6 test engine on the dyno, with questions about whether it can handle the hybrid side – mainly the MGU-H and the battery – itself. Red Bull Racing chief executive Christian Horner insists the company is “in a position to hire and invest and be able to do all of that”. However, he has indicated his willingness to work with Honda if the manufacturer decides it wants to return to F1. “Our train has left the station for 2026, we’ve got an engine and prototype running, we’ve got all the dynos running, we’re up and running,” Horner said. “Honda is a great company, it announced its exit from F1 to focus on electrifying its products, moving away from the internal combustion engine. “So you would assume that if they wanted to come back to F1, that would have to be taken into account. “Whether or not there was interest on the battery side and any potential synergies there, it could be an interesting conversation. “But the combustion and the mechanical side of the engine, we’re on a roadmap for 2026 that we’re very happy with.” This is a strong hint from Horner that outsourcing the non-V6 portion of the powerplant is something that Red Bull Powertrains should look into to some extent. This is not a big surprise as there are often silent partners and third party suppliers involved in F1 engine projects. Honda would be a front partner, however, and it remains to be seen whether the type of setup Red Bull wants could be compatible with Honda. For starters, work on Honda’s energy recovery system on F1 turbo-hybrid engines took place in Milton Keynes at a facility sold to Red Bull as part of the engine’s continuation project for 2022 and beyond. And Honda’s expertise in the Sakura is mostly on the internal combustion engine side, although it’s increasing its hybridization as part of the company’s carbon-neutral technology push, so that could be a workable match. What a Red Bull-Honda partnership would mean for F1’s “new manufacturer” regulations is unclear. It could affect whether Red Bull Powertrains qualifies for extra dyno hours and higher spending limits – although a V6 designed and built by Powertrains would probably meet the definition, even if the ERS partner is an established F1 manufacturer. There’s also the not-so-small matter that, officially, Honda is not considering a return to F1 in 2026. At least not at dashboard level. But the company’s racing division remains close to Red Bull because there is still an active partnership and The Race understands there have been discussions about what could be possible in 2026 and beyond. Horner emphasized that Red Bull Powertrains is “not dependent or dependent on other possible partnerships or not”, but admits that “we would be foolish not to listen” to any interested parties. “But it will have to fit strategically and complement what we’re doing, to make sure it follows the same roadmap as Red Bull Powertrains,” he added.
