Red Bull Nearing Honda F1 Engine Takeover For 2022

Red Bull head into 2021, knowing full well that this is technically their final year with Honda as engine suppliers. The pair first partnered in the 2019 season, following a performance trial at sister team Toro Rosso back in 2018.

But midway through the 2020 season, Honda announced their intention to exit the sport altogether. This left Red Bull’s teams in need of an engine supplier from the 2022 season onwards.

However, Red Bull are now reportedly close to undertaking Honda engines for their F1 project beyond 2022. Although a few complexities still exist, progress in the engines’ development freeze proposal might see the takeover eventually happen.

Red Bull will take over a portion of Honda’s Milton Keynes facility

A detailed report by ‘The Race’ stated, “Renewed discussions over an early Formula 1 engine development freeze mean Red Bull is closing on a deal to take over Honda’s engine from 2022 onwards.

“The negotiation process has spilled into this year despite claims from Red Bull it needed to be resolved by November, and then December.

“The Race understands it is back on the agenda as of this week and at least two parties involved are believed to be confident a resolution is close.”

The engines’ development freeze plan is something F1 teams first got to discussing back in November. But over time, those talks have now clearly made progress with a compromise suiting all parties in the offing.

“In addition to agreeing that Red Bull will take over part of Honda’s Milton Keynes facility, and expand its own Red Bull Technologies campus as well, it is expected that the takeover plan will include at least some Honda personnel remaining involved beyond 2021,” concluded the report.

The partnership between Honda and Red Bull has yielded some fantastic results

Honda’s collaboration with the Austrian-licensed outfit in 2019 saw them achieve 3 wins and 6 podiums courtesy of Max Verstappen. The 2020 season got even better, taking the tally up to 2 wins and 11 podiums in total.

Safe to say, the Honda-Red Bull partnership was one that was tremendously good for the sport. With a proposed continuation on the horizon, the teams’ fans would undoubtedly seem pleased with this piece of news.