How the whole Red Bull-Honda F1 engine saga has unfolded

Almost four months ago, Red Bull Racing were told by engine supplier Honda that the Japanese team will stop supplying engines in Formula 1 after 2021. From that moment on, many discussions and negotiations have taken place behind the scenes, but it is still unclear which engines Red Bull and AlphaTauri will use from 2022. And the new F1 season is about to begin...

From now on, all teams will actually want to put their full focus on the start of the year, so the important topic for Red Bull and AlphaTauri will fade into the background. It is important to reach an agreement before then, especially since Red Bull has already started designing the RB17 for 2022. It is becoming a whole soap opera. GPBlog explains in chronological order how it came to this.

September 03, 2020
Honda give a new update on their future plans for the premier class of motorsport. Toyoharu Tanabe is asked what it takes to keep Honda for Formula 1. "A world championship," the Japanese CEO clearly answers. At that point, it was already clear that this will not be possible in 2020. But what will happen in 2021?

September 06
A few days later Pierre Gasly manages to win the Grand Prix at Monza in an AlphaTauri. A nice boost for Honda, becoming the first engine supplier in Formula 1 since the hybrid era that managed to win a race with two different teams.

October 2, 2020
Honda announces out of the blue that they will end their Formula 1 project after 2021. The manufacturer is stepping out of the top class of motorsport because of the "shifting focus within the automotive industry." It is clear that the F1 branch of Honda is very disappointed with the decision from above (the management of the brand). Honda says goodbye to Formula 1 but will remain active in the IndyCar.

October 4, 2020
According to Red Bull and AlphaTauri, there are three options now.

1. Ferrari, Renault or Mercedes will supply engines.
2. Red Bull finds a party like Mugen or AVL that will continue to develop the current Honda engine.
3. Red Bull buys the IP from Honda itself and is aiming for an engine freeze as they do not have the resources to develop further.

October 10, 2020
Just over a week later, it is Mercedes that is clear about supplying engines to the direct competitor. The German world champion is not going to do that under any circumstances. On the same day, Helmut Marko says he wants to have clarity about the 2022 engine by the end of November. The search continues in the meantime ...

October 24, 2020
Christian Horner announced on Saturday ahead of the Portuguese Grand Prix that the other current engine manufacturers in Formula 1 also appear not to be an option for Red Bull: This means that the first option has already been dropped.

October 25, 2020
Mercedes supports Red Bull's engine freeze plan but insists on a number of conditions. According to Toto Wolff, it should not be the case that the primary intention of the plan is to reduce the differences between the power units. "You can't come up with a simple formula to bring everything closer together. Mercedes won't let that happen just like that."

October 31, 2020
Renault and Ferrari give a firm 'no' when the engine freeze is discussed. The engine suppliers believe that Red Bull should find a solution to their own problem.

November 27, 2020
The deadline of late November set by Helmut Marko has not been met. The Red Bull adviser now wants clarity at the beginning of December. In the meantime, Renault and Ferrari are willing to consider an engine freeze.

December 13, 2020
Max Verstappen manages to win convincingly in Abu Dhabi, but Honda's decision has been made. After 2021, the Japanese contribution to Formula 1 will really be finished.

December 22, 2020
The postponed deadline of early December was also not met by Red Bull. Helmut Marko: "I expect to be able to provide more clarity about our power unit in 2022 in the coming weeks." In addition, the 77-year-old Austrian says that a deal with Honda is around 85 to 90 per cent. So it seems to be option three.

January 21, 2021
Finally, there is a deal between Red Bull and Honda. The signatures have already been put on the paper in pencil, but it will be a matter of time until Formula 1, Liberty Media and the engine manufacturers agree with the plan of the Austrian racing team.

January 25, 2021
An agreement with the engine manufacturers is expected at a meeting of the F1 Commission, but the meeting takes a completely different turn. Ferrari has reportedly agreed with Red Bull's proposed plans, but Renault and Mercedes do not. The latter engine manufacturer would mainly be concerned about the fact that interim adjustments may be made in Red Bull's plan, but Mercedes would not want this. This may be to maintain their current lead. From Ferrari's point of view, it makes sense that they agree with Red Bull because their power unit still has a lot of potential.

January 26, 2021
Helmut Marko is not happy that it has not come to an agreement. "The agreement we had on Friday suddenly disappeared on Monday. It now requires more talks and negotiations."

January 29, 2021
Toto Wolff emphasises that Mercedes is still in favour of the engine freeze, even though he does not indicate whether his employer voted for or against in the meeting. "If freezing engine development is necessary to keep Red Bull-Honda alive, then we will support that. As teams, we should try to stay together in Formula 1. Red Bull's project is ambitious, but I think that they can do it. That's why we're for the freeze. ''

February 11, 2021
There will be a new vote on an engine freeze from 2022 and all conditions attached to it. So Red Bull still has a little more than a week to convince the other engine manufacturers of their plan. The engine suppliers all have a vote during the voting round, as do the ten teams. The votes of the FIA ​​(via President Jean Todt) and F1 (via CEO Stefano Domenicali) count for ten. A simple majority, so eighteen votes, is enough to get Red Bull's proposal accepted.

March 28, 2021
The first Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain takes place. An agreement is really necessary by then. Is this saga going to fizzle out for Red Bull?

This article was written and originally published by Corwin on the Dutch edition of GPblog.com.