Engine production takeover in practice: Red Bull to welcome part of Honda staff

Now that Red Bull's plans to bring forward the engine freeze have been officially accepted by the Formula 1 authorities, all that remains for the Milton Keynes-based factory to do is to put the new plans into practice. This appears not to be too big of a problem for the team, as the necessary logistical solutions are already on the table in Milton Keynes, The Race reports.

Scott Mitchell, journalist for the-race.com reports that Honda and Red Bull have already pre-empted today's decision and have already formulated a number of plans to make the acquisition of the Honda engine project a reality. Mitchell states that Honda and Red Bull have been hammering out the details of their deal for some time: "Private discussions between Red Bull and Honda took place to establish the specifics of their arrangement and were understood to have swiftly gained support from Honda in Japan, not just its F1 operation."

This support manifests itself in a number of logistical solutions designed to facilitate the acquisition of the Honda plant. "In addition to agreeing that Red Bull will take over part of Honda’s Milton Keynes facility, and expand its own Red Bull Technologies campus as well, it is expected that the takeover plan will include at least some Honda personnel remaining involved beyond 2021," Mitchell reports.

Red Bull and Honda anticipated decision

In addition, Mitchell reports that Honda and Red Bull had a deal on the table for the takeover as early as the end of 2020, anticipating agreement from rival teams on a freeze on engine development. Mitchell: "By the end of 2020 Red Bull and Honda were believed to have agreed their deal in principle and the only remaining uncertainty was whether the freeze would be implemented.”