Red Bull Racing F1 team is on a roll this season as they inch closer to the championship trophies. Everything seems to have gone their way in the 2022 season, from drivers’, to constructors’ championships. However, there’s one aspect where the Austrian giants could not do much.
Red Bull’s potential partnership with German automobile giant Porsche has fallen apart. Porsche was reportedly interested in taking over 50% of the Austrian team’s operations and was slated to join the sport in 2026. Sadly, that couldn’t come to fruition. And now the Red Bull team principal reveals the story.
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Christian Horner slammed the automobile giants, worth $45.1 Billion, for jumping the gun.
Talking about this, Horner told media over the Italian GP weekend, “The talks were just talks. There were no signatures or agreements.”
The Austrian F1 team boss further shared, “big companies need to make big plans, and they probably got a little ahead of themselves. No promises were made.”
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“There has been an expression of interest, and the shareholders have considered it and decided that it was not the right thing for Red Bull Racing, Red Bull Technology, or Red Bull Powertrains.“, the Briton further asserted on the potential partnership that has fallen apart.
Red Bull & Christian Horner believes in freedom
Porsche was interested in taking half of Red Bull’s share in the F1 team. That means having half control of the entire operations, from the racing team to the development program. However, the Austrian giants weren’t interested in giving away such power.
Mercedes F1 and Red Bull F1 today reached an agreement regarding the appointment of Ben Hodgkinson.
Under the terms of that agreement, Ben, who joined Mercedes in August 2001, will be free to join Red Bull Powertrains from 24 May 2022. pic.twitter.com/8H3Jh9dPQ3
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) January 21, 2022
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Moreover, the Milton-Keynes-based team has recently developed a Powertrains division where they employ over 300 people. The Powertrains division became functional and power the Bulls after Honda left the sport last year.
The Bulls have also roped in many renowned engineers, mostly from Mercedes. As reported by F1, the Milton-Keynes-based team took in Mercedes HPP’s Head of Mechanical Engineering Ben Hodgkinson last year. Hodgkinson has become Red Bull Powertrains’ new Technical Director.
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All in all, with things going smoothly, the higher authority of the Bulls might not be happy about sharing such huge power with anybody. After all, freedom is what the Red Bull Racing F1 team believes in.