Horner: 'This is where Formula 1 failed'

Christian Horner, team boss of Red Bull Racing, says that a longer partnership with Honda is certainly not out of the question. The team from Milton Keynes would then, with the help of the Japanese, develop its own power source.

Last week Honda announced that it will stop supplying engines to its Formula 1 teams after 2021. The Japanese engine supplier will withdraw from the sport and will not return. This means that Red Bull and AlphaTauri will have to look for a new engine for 2022 and beyond. This causes a lot of headaches within the teams, because time is running out and there are few options within the current engine suppliers.

"We have to look at all the options and we have to take our time," Horner said at the press conference this afternoon. "Red Bull needs a competitive engine. We don't have the ambitions of a customer team. But the cost of getting an engine is enormous. And that's where Formula 1 has failed to attract new engine suppliers and manufacturers".

"Honda's decision now focuses on costs and everything that drives up costs, like all the rules that come with an engine. It is very unfortunate for Formula 1 that Honda has pulled out, but it is also a wake up call. We need to start thinking about whether 2026 is too far away for the introduction of a new engine. These are questions that need to be answered quickly in order to be able to plan a route for the sport in the future," Horner concludes.