Red Bull Racing faces the enormous challenge of putting its own power unit on the F1 grid by 2026. For this ambitious project to succeed, Max Verstappen's team is being aided by new partner Ford. It could also have been Honda, but the Japanese were not keen on a new partnership.
After Honda decided to withdraw from Formula 1 as a manufacturer, Red Bull Racing chose to produce its own power units. According to Koji Watanabe, the president of the Honda Racing Corporation, there was "actually no room to cooperate" in this project.
The latter, according to the Japanese, would have wanted Red Bull to be a partner in the new project. Watanabe told Motorsport.com that Honda briefly considered working together, with Red Bull Powertrains producing an internal combustion engine and Honda supplying the electric components.
Honda and Porsche did not go together
This option would have been on the table when Red Bull was linked to a deal with Porsche in 2022. But Honda did not see fit to be a partner in a deal, which would ultimately see Porsche on Red Bull's cars - and not Honda.
In the end, Honda decided to stay in Formula 1 as an independent supplier after all. Watanabe says there was interest from several teams, but as it is now known, HRC chose Aston Martin.
The Japanese promises that Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll's team will have a "competitive" power unit at its disposal.
This article was written in collaboration with Norberto Mujica.
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