“It’s a big issue”- Red Bull pose F1 exit warning amidst power unit problem

“It’s a big issue”- Red Bull pose F1 exit warning amidst the power unit problem with the imminent exit of Honda from the sport.

Red Bull is struggling to find a solution to their current power unit crises, with Honda confirmed to take an exit from Formula 1 in 2022.

The already available options to replace Honda are not suitable to the demands of Red Bull, due to which the Austrian team has decided to build their own engine.

However, Red Bull not being a manufacturer, they are not equipped to do so, calling for heavy investment. So, they are demanding F1 to freeze the engine development by 2022.

“It’s a great shame and obviously disappointing for us and disappointing for Formula 1 I think to lose a manufacturer like Honda,” team boss Christian Horner told Channel 4 in Germany.

“They’ve put so much effort in and the passion of the Japanese engineers, we’ve had engineers in tears, apologising for leaving.

“But we understand their decision. Formula 1 is hugely expensive, and of course, they want to deploy their key engineers on other technologies,” he explained.

“So I think it’s a big wake-up call for Formula 1 if you have a manufacturer like Honda withdrawing, you’ve got to look at those regulations, you’ve got to get costs under control.”

“We’re now in a situation where there are only three engine suppliers in Formula 1 which is going to be the first time since probably the 1970s or before that.”

“It’s a big issue, and I think it’s a topic that needs to be addressed by the FIA to reduce costs and protect the competitiveness of the engines.”

“And to ensure that a team like Red Bull, which has big aspirations, can have a competitive power unit.”

Red Bull is not alone.

In this fight, Mercedes reported are also supporting their rivals, while Renault is also thought to be onboard providing the relative performance of all the engines is equal.

The main opposition is from Ferrari, whose main opposition is because they are currently facing a huge deficit against other teams after the FIA investigation last year.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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