F1: Honda ‘interested’ in 2026 return – Marko (Update)

(GMM) Red Bull is leaving the door wide open for a full revival of the works Honda engine partnership.

The Japanese carmaker pulled out of F1 in an official capacity after Red Bull-Honda’s 2021 title breakthrough, with the energy drink owned-team subsequently setting up ‘Red Bull Powertrains’.

With ‘HRC’ (Honda Racing Corporation) branding on the 2022 car, Red Bull Powertrains now officially powers both Red Bull and Alpha Tauri cars – but the basis of the power units is still very much Honda.

Red Bull had intended to maintain that strategy through to 2026, when a new works partnership with Porsche would begin. But the Red Bull-Porsche talks recently collapsed.

Amid rumors Hyundai and Ford are also eyeing the 2026 rules, Red Bull has in the meantime rekindled talks with Honda – and the initial fruit of those talks is renewed ‘Honda’ branding on the 2022 cars.

Dr Helmut Marko confirmed at Suzuka that after the Singapore GP, he took a detour to Tokyo for Honda talks.

“We were in Tokyo and had talks with Honda,” he told Sky Deutschland.

“We now have to see what will come of it because we have now set up an engine factory ourselves in Milton Keynes.

“But in the coming years the division between combustion engines and electric engines will be 50-50 so there is now also a possibility of sharing the tasks.”

(GMM) Honda is “interested” in returning to Formula 1 in an official capacity, according to Dr Helmut Marko.

Recently, Red Bull and Porsche admitted that their talks about a works engine collaboration and 50 percent team buyout slated for 2026 had collapsed.

Top team official Marko then announced that he would shortly be travelling to Japan to kick off talks with Honda, after the Japanese manufacturer officially pulled out of F1 at the end of last year.

“When Honda announced its withdrawal, we didn’t have much choice,” Marko, referring to Red Bull’s establishment of its own engine subsidiary, told ORF.

Red Bull now runs Red Bull-branded engines in collaboration with Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) who offer technical support to the Honda-based power units.

“We also spoke to Ferrari at the time,” Marko explained. “But you can imagine that if we had a Ferrari engine now, it probably wouldn’t run like a factory engine in a Ferrari.”

Red Bull is now intending to run its very own engines in 2026.

“We built our own factory in record time,” said Marko. “The first engine is running on the test bench.

“We hired 300 top specialists, some of whom were also former employees of Mercedes-Benz. Of course, we want the best people.

“We don’t yet have the know-how for the electrical part, but there are already contacts to become the best in that area as well. We are independent – we can do everything independently.

“But we are also open to a partnership to reduce the effort for Red Bull. There are talks with Honda, who are now interested in cooperating again. But it has to be done in such a way that Red Bull’s DNA is not endangered.

“It’s primarily about our unbelievable flexibility to react extremely quickly.”