“It is not possible”- Toto Wolff explains why Mercedes can’t pair up with Red Bull for a power unit unlike in 2016 when it was a lucrative prospect.
Red Bull is on a lookout for alternative engine supply with the imminent exit of Honda from Formula 1 by the end of the 2021 season.
Mercedes has already revealed that they are not ready to supply the power unit resources, leaving only Ferrari and Renault as the only other existing manufacturers who could supply engines.
On the other hand, Red Bull has openly claimed that they prefer to build their own power unit. However, it is going to be a risky task if they can’t freeze their designs now.
“It is not possible”- An explaination
Meanwhile, Wolff has explained to the Autosport why Mercedes won’t be partnering with Red Bull, opposite to the stand they had in 2016.
“Back then, the idea was that Mercedes and Red Bull could work together on marketing, We were interested in the platform that Red Bull provided, as they are a super cool brand and very innovative on what they do,” said Wolff.
“This is what I said to Christian [Horner], and if we can somehow link the two and find an alliance, something on the Daimler board level, would at least allow a proper consideration.
“But it never came to fruition. Today it is simply a capacity problem. These power units are very complicated. We are in a situation that we can’t just expand continuously, like all of us at Daimler.
“From a logistical point of view, from a cost point of view, it is not possible for us to supply Red Bull with a power unit.
“And from a marketing point of view today, power unit suppliers haven’t benefitted greatly from working with teams.”
This is the reason why we bought the team, and why we didn’t stay a power unit supplier, and I think we are reaping the benefits of having a team. It isn’t really our priority to supply engines.”
“We build them, and we race them in our cars, and obviously to refinance the costs we supply them to customers,” he concluded
