{"id":276827,"date":"2025-07-20T07:37:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T07:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/276827\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T07:37:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T07:37:09","slug":"red-bull-told-no-chance-after-embarrassing-christian-horner-admission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/276827\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Bull told ‘no chance’ after ’embarrassing’ Christian Horner admission"},"content":{"rendered":"

Honda has insisted that there is \u201czero\u201d chance of a reunion with Red Bull if the team\u2019s F1 2026 project with Ford falls flat.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It comes after Christian Horner, the recently sacked team principal, admitted it is highly unlikely that Red Bull Powertrains and Ford will produce a better engine than Mercedes for next season.<\/p>\n

Honda close door on Red Bull reunion amid Max Verstappen exit fears<\/p>\n

Red Bull will produce its own engines for the first time in F1 2026 with its newly established Powertrains division working in collaboration with Ford as current supplier Honda enters a technical partnership with the Aston Martin team.<\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com<\/a> last year, Horner, who was \u2018released\u2019 from his duties as team principal last week, described Red Bull\u2019s in-house engine program as the \u201cbiggest challenge\u201d the team has faced since arriving in F1 in 2005.<\/p>\n

Rumours have persisted for some time that Mercedes\u2019 preparations for the new F1 2026 rules \u2013 which will see the sport embrace 50 per cent electrification, fully sustainable fuels and active aerodynamics \u2013 are more advanced than its rivals.<\/p>\n

Analysis: Max Verstappen to leave Red Bull for Mercedes?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 Max Verstappen or George Russell? The choice for Mercedes is simple<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 How Max Verstappen to Mercedes could shake up F1 2026 driver market<\/a><\/p>\n

A report in April claimed that only one engine manufacturer<\/a> \u2013 believed to be Mercedes \u2013 is \u2018in good shape\u2019 for F1 2026 with every other outfit experiencing serious trouble with the development of their new power units.<\/p>\n

Mercedes\u2019 confidence ahead of the new rules, combined with the question marks surrounding the RBPT-Ford engine, has increased speculation over the future of Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n

It was claimed earlier this week that Ola Kallenius, the Mercedes chief executive, has approved the signing of Verstappen<\/a> for next season.<\/p>\n

Despite being under contract until the end of 2028, Verstappen\u2019s deal is believed to contain a performance-related clause potentially allowing him to leave Red Bull at the end of this year.<\/p>\n

It is thought that Verstappen will be free to activate an exit clause if he is lower than fourth in the Drivers\u2019 Championship after the Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before F1\u2019s summer break, early next month.<\/p>\n

Koji Watanabe, the president of the Honda Racing Corporation, has dismissed suggestions that Red Bull could seek to rekindle its relationship with Honda if its own engine project proves a failure.<\/p>\n

Mr Watanabe told Japanese publication Auto Sport Web:\u00a0\u201cThat is not possible at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if we were asked to do it now, it would be too late to make it in time for 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chances are zero.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com in January, Mr Watanabe raised concerns over Honda\u2019s own 2026 engine project<\/a> by admitting that the manufacturer was \u201creally struggling\u201d with the development of its new power unit.<\/p>\n

However, it is believed that Mr Watanabe, who was speaking in a second language, was making a more general comment on the technical challenges posed by the new regulations rather than giving a specific update on Honda\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n

Mr Watanabe has issued a fresh update on Honda\u2019s collaboration with Aston Martin, revealing that the pair have already carried out \u2018multiple tests\u2019 ahead of next season.<\/p>\n

He added:\u00a0\u201cOf course, that is a power unit for testing and not the final specification.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe combine the latest products at the time with each other at the testing stage and we do tests in the UK and in Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t do the tests at the same time. When we do it in Japan, we do it in Japan only.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s not just the things that are tested, but also the people who are present at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHRC staff and Aston Martin staff work together, and we\u2019ve already done multiple tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gearboxes that Aston Martin is producing are gradually approaching the final specification and we will continue to test them.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 Max Verstappen news<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 Red Bull news<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com ahead of what proved to be his final race in charge of Red Bull at the British Grand Prix, Horner conceded that it would be \u201cembarrassing\u201d for Mercedes<\/a> or \u201cany manufacturer\u201d if RBPT-Ford produce a better engine at the first time of asking in F1 2026.<\/p>\n

Yet he insisted that Red Bull will be the best place for Verstappen to be over the long term.<\/p>\n

He said:\u00a0\u201cThings go in cycles and sport goes in cycles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had two incredibly successful cycles in Formula 1 and what we want to do is build towards the next cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, of course, we want that to be with Max, but we understand the pressure that there is next year with us coming in as a new power unit manufacturer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge of that is enormous. But we\u2019ve got a hugely capable group of people. We\u2019ve invested significantly. We\u2019ve got a great culture within the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho knows? To expect us to be ahead of Mercedes next year is [unrealistic].<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be embarrassing for Mercedes if we were, or for any manufacturer.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think we\u2019re going to be in a competitive position, potentially even to where we are today relative to our other PU manufacturers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s everything to play for. What\u2019s great is having it all under one roof; chassis engineers sitting next to engine engineers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat shouldn\u2019t be underestimated when you\u2019re talking about the packaging.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019ve got the ability to have those groups communicating and talking with each other directly over a cup of coffee and within the same facility, that is priceless and that will pay dividends.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it won\u2019t be in \u201926, but \u201927, \u201928, and beyond, long term for Red Bull, 100 per cent it is the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mercedes previously emerged as F1\u2019s dominant force in 2014, winning a record eight consecutive Constructors\u2019 titles and seven Drivers\u2019 championships split between Lewis Hamilton (2014-15 and 2017-20) and Nico Rosberg (2016).<\/p>\n

Read next:\u00a0Christian Horner leads tributes to Red Bull icon after heartbreaking news<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Honda has insisted that there is \u201czero\u201d chance of a reunion with Red Bull if the team\u2019s F1…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[1837,24994,4199,707,4200,225,12,226,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-276827","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-aston-martin","9":"tag-christian-horner","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-home-page","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-red-bull","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114884420886468134","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}