Horner laughs: 'Maybe Wolff will need a Red Bull engine one day'

Honda's departure from Formula 1 was a harsh one for Red Bull Racing. The Austrian formation had their own engine supplier for the first time, which made the integration between chassis and power unit perfect. Honda, however, decided to leave the pinnacle of motorsport and so Red Bull was faced with a problem. Christian Horner comments.

"Having sampled what that [manufacturer partnership] feels like and what it’s capable of, it left a question: do we go back to being a customer and the compromise that imposes, or do we take this opportunity to fully integrate the power unit into the technical team, on-site in Milton Keynes, and become the only team other than Ferrari to have everything under one roof? It was a hell of a ballsy decision to go for it, but that’s Red Bull," Horner told Autocar.

Mercedes with Red Bull engines?

According to Horner, this is the best route to a competitive engine that can win world championships. "Mercedes wouldn’t supply one and Renault didn’t want to supply one, so it didn’t leave us with a lot of choice. We’ve got to get on with it and make Toto rue that decision. Maybe one day he will need an engine from us!", the British chief laughed.

Red Bull will place the chassis and engine departments on one campus. The preparations for this are now in full swing. Construction is in full swing in Milton Keynes and the site is expected to be completed in April. "It’s a massive undertaking, but I believe we will hit those timescales," Horner states.