Red Bull Racing has been completely left out to dry by its current engine supplier.
The new engines and regulations won't come to Formula One until 2026, but the drama is already building in anticipation of what will almost certainly be considered the next generation of F1 racing.
Along with the new regulations, Honda — which currently provides engines to Red Bull Racing and its sister team AlphaTauri — announced it would be exiting the sport. Red Bull was left to search for a new partner and opted to create its own engine in a partnership with Ford.
But then, not long after Honda announced its exit and Red Bull already made other plans for its engine 2026-and-beyond, they decided to re-enter the sport, agreeing to become the engine supplier for Aston Martin, who is nipping at the heels of Red Bull in the Constructor's Standings.
Aston Martin, owned by Lawrence Stroll, has become extremely competitive since Stroll's investment in the team. We don't know exactly what led to Honda changing its mind about participating in the sport, but we can imagine there were several zeroes involved.
Currently, Aston Martin runs a Mercedes powertrain.
Stroll has demonstrated an unrelenting desire to win given the investment in the team.
Red Bull left out to dry by Honda
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted the team, "wouldn't have made that jump," to making its own powertrain if Honda stayed in F1. And why would they have? They've won a championship with Honda and are one of the most dominant cars on the grid, clearly having generated some synergy with the company.
Horner suggested a silver lining, though to Motorsport.com, in that Honda's exit from the sport challenged RBR to create new jobs and to become an engine creator rather than a customer.
That is a good thing, but it has to sting to see Honda turn around on its word and start working for the enemy at Aston Martin.
The last time Red Bull switched engines was when they went away from Renault to work with Ford after the 2018 season. Red Bull won four consecutive titles with the Renault engine but slipped behind Mercedes on the tail-end of the Renault supplier deal.
