Toto Wolff thinks that the Red Bull-Porsche deal can still happen and may not be all hopeless after all.
After month-long speculations around a possible tie-up between Red Bull and Porsche, the deal was finally called off. Both parties failed to conclude the deal.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner revealed that both the parties were just not compatible enough for the deal. Horne also surfaced the fact that Porsche was probably “getting a little bit ahead of themselves”.
However, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff feels otherwise about the future of the deal.
Horner has insisted that the Red Bull powertrains department will push forward independently to develop competitive power units.
However, Toto Wolff feels that it might not be that easy for Red Bull to develop powertrains without the support of a big manufacturer. Earlier, it collaborated with Honda before the company exited F1.
“It’s a brave strategy to set up autonomously,”
said Wolff.
“Having your own power unit and not being dependent on an OEM, that’s what Red Bull has always wanted.
“Now it really is – that’s the strategy they have initiated. I’m curious to see how they do with that in 2026, 2027 and 2028.
“It’s clearly setting a new trend and I’m also curious to see if Porsche might come in and brand the engine, or if Honda might do that.”
We can’t fight with Porsche – Wolff
Red Bull earlier had a partnership with Renault as engine suppliers. From 2016-2018 the engines were supplied to the team under the Tag Heuer badge.
They also had a brief partnership with Aston Martin although not getting any engines from the latter. The team then went on to partner with Honda whose engine components the team use to date.
Toto Wolff admitted that for the time being Mercedes will not be going up against Porsche. Although Audi has officially confirmed joining the sport, Wolff didn’t say the same for the Volkswagen group-owned team:
“As a Mercedes representative, I think it’s a shame we can’t fight with Porsche,”
said the 50-year-old Austrian.
“Porsche-Red Bull would have been a mega entry, a great brand. For reasons I don’t know, it didn’t work out.
“It would have been great for Formula 1 and for the attractiveness of our sport if that had come about.”
As of now, the deal seems in the dead water with no hope of a comeback.
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