Red Bull will have an engine next year, says Horner

Formula One’s engine manufacturers met Saturday to discuss ways of reducing costs for teams and head off the threat of the sport introducing a cheap independent engine.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff agreed, describing supply costs as “a very legitimate cause”.

While Red Bull and Renault had gone their separate ways, there was room left for a compromise under which Red Bull could use Renault-based engines in 2016 but with more design input from a third party, which would allow the engine to be branded with a different name.

Horner added: “It’s an engine that will hopefully improve during the course of the year, so it’s going to be a tough start to the season for us but we’re confident we’ll make strides”.

“It was fully supported by Honda that we didn’t have the capacity to engage another team, but someone had to stand up and say, “This is not going to happen”.

The FIA has said if the proposals from current manufacturers are not good enough, the idea of an independent engine – whose cost to teams would be subsidised – could be in place for 2017.

When Renault signed a letter of intent with Lotus in September, the team were told by the High Court they had until December 7 to resolve their future.

“We have always said we’d like to do that after the season – the season ends on Sunday”.

He said the delays were “typical Formula One” but confirmed that much of the work to complete the takeover had been done.

Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull, which gets its engines from Renault and is the most politically powerful of the customer teams, said that had been “a mistake”.

The Red Bull chief went further, and said teams should not be involved in deciding any of the sport’s rules, including engine regulations. But someone had to take a clear decision, and so I took one, and therefore took the understandable flak.

“I think that having sat and thought about it, he’s decided that there’s too much at stake, that Red Bull have invested so much into the sport that he wants to see the team get back to its former glory”.

Horner did not let out as to who will it source the engines from, but it is being understood that these will be unbranded engines sourced from Renault. “That should be about the drivers and out-and-out racing”.