During the past 2020, Honda announced that he would leave Formula 1 after his poor journey with McLaren and his successful time at Red Bull, but in the middle of the season he changed his mind to continue with his agreement with the Milton Keynes team, although under the Austrian imprint of Red Bull Powertrains .
However, the latest rumors point to a merger of the energy drinks team with a new manufacturer, Porsche, which wants to enter the top category of motorsport with a “strong” structure.
The Volkswagen Group confirmed that both its Stuttgart firm and Audi would end up in Formula 1, so the paddock was abuzz with comments since the news broke about who each company would end up with.
For this reason, the motorization of Red Bull, the team that won the last drivers’ world championship with Max Verstappen, is highly valued. Initially, the Austrian team will create its own power units, which enter a new cycle of rules from the 2026 season, but when Red Bull’s chief executive was asked about the matter, he stoked doubts.
“Earlier in the week we opened the Red Bull Powertrains building, so hopefully that will allow us to produce really competitive engines from 2026,” Christian Horner told OneStopStrategy.com at Silverstone.
However, the British director explained that his team still maintains an “engineering partnership” with Honda until the end of 2025 , just the course before the new hybrid powertrain regulations come into force.
Doubts about Red Bull’s engines arose when he spoke about Porsche and Audi : “Of course they are also in talks to get into the sport, and I think it’s exciting for Formula 1 that brands like that want to get involved.”
“However, it depends on what the rules are, how you treat a newcomer and a lot of things like that,” the Red Bull boss continued before turning to Honda.
When asked about the Japanese manufacturer and if he had heard that they were considering a return in 2026, he said: “It’s up to them, there hasn’t been any discussion with us about it.”
