One of the greatest rivalries in modern F1 almost led to a surprising partnership.
Helmut Marko revealed on the Inside Line F1 Podcast that he had a handshake deal with Niki Lauda, but Toto Wolff stopped it. So, Red Bull turned to Honda and won many championships with them instead.
Marko shared that from 2010 to 2013, Red Bull dominated the constructors’ championship. But when the hybrid era started, their French engine supplier couldn’t keep up with Mercedes. This led to many public arguments. Marko knew they couldn’t win with Renault anymore.
“Our engine supplier unfortunately couldn’t make a competitive engine,” Marko said. “There was quite a big rivalry with Mercedes, and also our boss was not a big fan. And we said listen with our engine we can’t motivate people anymore because everybody knows with this engine you can’t win.”
Wolff Rejects Sending Engines to Red Bull
Marko then reached out to Niki Lauda at Mercedes. They had a handshake deal, but Toto Wolff didn’t support it, so it fell through. Red Bull then turned their attention to Honda, even though Honda struggled with McLaren at first.
“I had some inside information about what they [Honda] were planning,” Marko explained. “So yes, we took this risk, which I believed wasn’t really a risk because I knew how much they spent. They were serious about it, so we switched to an engine which at that moment was, as Alonso said, F2 style of power or something like that. We always took brave decisions—no risk, no fun,” Marko concluded.
Fans might think this news is both surprising and exciting!
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