McLaren laud Red Bull for taking “brave” power unit gamble

McLaren - Red Bull

McLaren laud Red Bull for taking “brave” power unit gamble

Red Bull will take over Honda's engine project at the end of the year

Sam Hall & Will Gray

Sunday 2 May 2021 12:05 Updated: 12:09

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McLaren team principal Zak Brown believes rival Red Bull is “very brave” to take on the challenge of running its own powertrain from 2025.

When Red Bull's current engine partner Honda announced last year it would leave F1 at the end of this season it left the team scrambling to find an alternative supplier.

With none of the existing manufacturers keen to align with the team, Red Bull chose to go its own way and is now in the process of developing a factory and recruiting staff.

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"I think their decision is very brave [but] I think it definitely could be successful," said Brown.

“Red Bull is a great racing organisation with lots of resources. I think had the engine freeze not been put in place I am not sure they would have taken on the project.

“It would have just required tonnes of continued development resources that would probably have pushed that over the edge of fiscally feasible. I think it is good we got to a place where the rules are slowing down the spend.”

Red Bull announced plans last month for a new division - Red Bull Powertrains - and has broken ground on the construction of an all-new facility which will become its centre of operation.

The team will retain existing Honda staff to manage the current engine project, and while the plan at present is for the engine to be rebadged as Red Bull, the possibility of ultimately linking up with Porsche or Audi has not been ruled out.

While McLaren manufactures road-going supercars, it will not be considering a similar homegrown engine approach as Red Bull.

“I don't see McLaren doing engines any time soon," added Brown. "I don't think Red Bull would have moved into this engine space had this opportunity to take off where Honda left had not presented itself.

“It is not without risk. I think bringing on an organisation like that and hundreds of employees. That is a lot of work to add to your plate.

"That being said, they appear to be hiring a lot of very talented people. I wouldn't be surprised if it was successful."