Honda’s decision to withdraw from Formula One at the end of the 2021 season gave Red Bull plenty to think about in the second half of last year.
It quickly emerged that Red Bull’s preference is to take over the intellectual property of Honda’s power unit and continue to use and develop it after 2021.
READ: Sebastian Vettel Says He Still ‘Deeply Cares’ About Ferrari
While the Japanese automaker is open to such a deal and has publicly said it will do everything it can to help its customer teams remain competitive, it’s not exactly a done deal at this point.
Not only do Red Bull and Honda have terms to finalise, but the Milton Keynes-based team is also pushing for an engine freeze to prevent it from losing ground to the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault after 2021.
In a recent interview, Franz Tost, team principal of Scuderia AlphaTauri, said he doesn’t rule out Red Bull and its sister team leaving Formula One if they can’t find a competitive solution.
“You can’t rule that out. One thing is certain: Dietrich Mateschitz and Red Bull stand for success and if Red Bull is not able to win races or compete for the world title because there is no good engine available then I don’t rule out Mateschitz wondering where this is going with the sport,” Tost told Motorsport-magazin.com.
Continuing, he said: “It’s a big risk for both teams, including AlphaTauri.
“We have all kinds of collaborations with Red Bull Racing and wouldn’t be able to suddenly have to do everything ourselves. That really is a long process,” Tost added.
READ: Daimler Reportedly Blocked $50mn Per Year Lewis Hamilton Deal