F1: Red Bull considered switching to Ferrari engines

Dr. Helmut Marko has revealed Red Bull had talks with the Ferrari F1 team about a possible engine supply when the news broke that Honda would be leaving the sport, but the deal never came about because Ferrari could not guarantee the engines Red Bull received would be as good as the Ferrari works team’s engines.

“When Honda announced it was pulling out, we didn’t have much choice,” said Marko.  “We also talked to Ferrari. But you can imagine that if we had had a Ferrari engine now, it would not run as well as in the factory car.

“We set up a factory in record time. The first engine for 2026 is running on the test bench. We hired three hundred top specialists, some of whom used to work at Mercedes. You look for the best people, of course.”

Since then Honda has had 2nd thoughts about leaving the sport completely and is talking to Red Bull about doing the electric portion of the 2026 engine.

“For the electric part, we don’t have all the knowledge yet,” Marko is quoted as saying to ORF.

“But we already have contacts to become stronger in this too. We are on our own and can do everything independently. However, we are also open to cooperation, to reduce costs for Red Bull.

“There are now talks with Honda, who are interested in a collaboration again anyway. It has to be, however, that Red Bull’s DNA is not compromised. It’s mainly about our incredible flexibility, that we can react extremely quickly.”