Red Bull hopeful of no engine penalties in 2020

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has said that the team are not planning to take an engine penalty in 2020, a stark contrast to 2019 where penalties were built into the team's plans for the Formula 1 season.

Horner says that Red Bull plan to make their permitted engine allocation last the distance in 2020.

"We're not planning a fourth engine at the moment," said Horner. "The plan is to go through on the three. If it goes to 21 races then it makes life slightly easier."

In 2019, Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Alex Albon both used five Honda internal combustion engines (ICE), while both Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso used seven.

While hopeful of an improvement in reliability to match that of the improvement in pace from Honda, Horner did concede that, if the situation were to arise, the team would need to time any penalty strategically.

"If we were to have to take a fourth then so long as you take it at a certain place then you can minimise the impact of that," continued Horner.

"You always chase performance over anything else."

Red Bull will next push the extremes of their Honda power when the final pre-season test begins in Barcelona on February 26.

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