What engine for Red Bull and AlphaTauri in 2022?

It feels like we're back in 2015. At the time, Red Bull was on the verge of finding itself without an engine manufacturer after having almost severed ties with Renault, then in difficulty. The stable of Milton Keynes went to knock on the door of Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda (then associated with McLaren) but was rejected by the three manufacturers, anxious not to arm such a dangerous rival. If the urgency is less pronounced this time, the situation is hardly more comfortable. Toto wolff has already closed the door to a partnership “for several reasons”. “We will supply four teams including ours (with the return of McLaren to the fold in 2021. Editor’s note), specified the Austrian. We are not able to build more powertrains. We can't afford it. » This leaves only two suppliers present in the discipline on the list of potential candidates: Renault and Ferrari. Cyril Abiteboul reiterated that the Losange would comply with the regulations if the situation requires it. The specter of an absence of an engine partner for Red Bull at the end of 2015 had pushed the governing bodies to make it compulsory, for the manufacturer which supplies the fewest teams, to make a propellant available if by chance a team found itself destitute. . “Red Bull has not yet contacted us,” said the French manager with a smile. I'm not sure we're at the top of their list. » Despite the laudatory remarks made by Horner towards Renault, it is difficult a priori to imagine a reunion given their history. But as Horner likes to say, “the unexplainable can happen in sport.”

Ferrari isn’t closing the door… neither is Honda

What about the Scuderia? Maranello supplied naturally aspirated V8s to Milton Keynes in 2006 and fitted Toro Rosso jusqu’en 2013. « C’est un sujet que nous n’avions pas envisagé, mais sur lequel nous allons nous pencher », a reconnu Mattia Binotto, qui a tout de même reconnu que le timing était très serré, d’autant plus que Horner souhaite boucler le dossier « avant la fin de l’année ». Wolff, pour sa part, croit savoir que son compère Helmut Marko « a un plan B qui n’implique pas les motoristes actuels ». Andreas Seidl, team principal McLaren et ex-Porsche – que l’on dit en discussion avec Red Bull – estime pourtant qu’il est « irréaliste » d’attendre d’un motoriste extérieur qui soit prêt à rejoindre la F1 in just a year. Finally, there is the option of acquiring Honda know-how and intellectual property to continue developing the Japanese TH V6. Present at the Nürburgring, Masashi Yamamoto, head of the F1 program at Honda, did not dismiss the possibility, even if “no formal discussion has yet taken place” on the subject, says Horner. Asked by AUTOhebdo to know if a profile like that of Andy Cowell could interest him, Horner simply replied: “The rumors are flying around at full speed. I don't know what his plans are, but I understand that he is still working on Mercedes-Benz projects. Using a Honda engine as a basis for development would allow Red Bull to avoid the status of a client team, a pitfall of modern F1. Whatever the future engine of the Austrian team, it will also have to be installed at the rear of the AlphaTauri. “We want to continue to strengthen the synergies between the two teams,” said Faenza’s loyal team principal, Franz Tost. I don't want AlphaTauri to design their own gearboxes, rear suspension, etc. again. ". Horner concluded by saying that Red Bull needed to "digest the announcement" before seeing what would be "the most competitive engine for 2022". But time is already running out.