Wolff has previously ruled out Mercedes providing Red Bull with power units, meaning they and sister team AlphaTauri would either have to persuade Ferrari or Renault to supply them, or adopt Honda’s infrastructure and engine designs for ongoing use – but it has been suggested the only viable way for that to happen is for engine development to be frozen across the board, so Red Bull aren’t forced into a hugely expensive development program. And Wolff says he would be in favour of such a freeze.
“Well, I think Formula 1 is in a good state with three engine suppliers… potentially four, and I totally understand where Red Bull are coming from,” he said.
Wolff supports Red Bull’s aspirations to be a works team –
and wants to avoid a spending war between manufacturers
Red Bull boss Christian Horner previously said he was “open to all possibilities”, including what would be the most expensive route of taking over Honda’s existing engine IP and becoming a full works team in F1.
And Wolff said he can see the attraction of that option, given Red Bull’s desire to be a leading team competing for wins and championships.
“I think that for them, going back to customer status is not something that they are very keen on, and I truly believe that Honda have done a very good job… but equally I understand that they don’t want to go in a spending war with all the other OEMs in developing engines, so it’s a sensible proposal.
It’s perhaps unsurprising for Wolff to be happy with the idea of such a freeze, given the Mercedes power unit is widely understood to be the most powerful in the sport. But it remains to be seen whether Red Bull will pursue the idea further – and whether they will find support from other F1 stakeholders.
Source: formula 1.com