McLaren in shock 'talks with Red Bull' over engine deal from 2026

Christian Horner talking with Zak Brown — Photo: © LAT Images

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McLaren in shock 'talks with Red Bull' over engine deal

Zak Brown has visited the Red Bull Racing factory, according to a report in an English newspaper

Stuart Hodge

Wednesday 22 February 2023 15:40 Updated: 21:00

A secret meeting has taken place between McLaren team boss Zak Brown and Red Bull over the potential for an engine partnership from 2026, according to a report in an English newspaper.

The charismatic American is said to have visited the Red Bull Racing factory to discuss the possibilities for a deal which would see McLaren use engines from Red Bull Powertrains when their current deal with Mercedes expires.

McLaren is tied into using Mercedes power units for the next three seasons, but no suitable partner has yet been found for after that. McLaren has contacted Honda, the engine manufacturer still involved in the production of Red Bull's power sources, but is also said to be reviewing other options.

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Red Bull will rely internally for engine development from 2026 through its Powertrains project, supported by car manufacturer Ford although the American motor giant's role is understood to be more from a branding standpoint in terms of marketing and advertising.

McLaren is curious whether the tie-up with Ford could also be of interest to them and that is the reason why Brown visited Red Bull.

Brown meets Red Bull for coffee – and potential engine deal?

The report which was carried by the Independent newspaper, said that Brown had a visited Red Bull's engine division to map out a possible deal.

A Red Bull spokesperson confirmed that Brown had indeed come for a cup of coffee, but did not want to release details about the content of the visit.

The potential collaboration between McLaren and Red Bull is somewhat surprising, since the teams have not had a very good relationship since the budget cap scandal.

Will Honda miss out on ex-partner Red Bull in 2026?

Another factor which made the visit surprising is because McLaren is also negotiating with Honda, the current engine partner of Red Bull. The Japanese manufacturer is set to bring its own engine to the Formula 1 market from 2026 and McLaren is one of the potential customers.

The fact that McLaren is now talking to Red Bull as well, will surely raise questions for Honda.

Brown himself did not want to say too much about it at the McLaren car launch last week.

"It's exciting to see how many manufacturers are coming in," he said. "I think it talks to the strength of the sport, the excitement, that we have as many manufacturers as possible.

"We have some time, we're very happy where we are, but we're doing what we should do – which is due diligence on what's going on in the environment, what does '26 look like? And I think we'll make a decision in the not too distant future."

First real customer team for Red Bull Powertrains?

Should Red Bull actually sign a deal with McLaren, they will commit a real customer team for the first time and such an agreement for 2026 would see that it also happens in the first year where it is no longer tied in with Honda. There is experience already of what it is like to deliver multiple power units, because these are currently also rolling off the production line for AlphaTauri, Red Bull's sister team.

Having an external customer team, however, would consitute an altogether different story, with different interests and relationships. Red Bull knows about this acutely from the time when it was at loggerheads with Renault. Tensions ran so high that Red Bull eventually broke with the French manufacturer and decided to join forces with Honda.

Should any agreement happen with McLaren, or any other team, then Red Bull would find itself on the other end of that equation.