Toto Wolff has admitted Red Bull’s plan to design their own engines from 2026 is a “very bold strategy”. The team have already set up their Red Bull Powertrains division and will go it alone after talks with Porsche about a supply deal ended.
Red Bull could return to Honda but boss Christian Horner has already confirmed any tie-up will likely be for smaller parts such as batteries. Wolff admitted he was disappointed Red Bull did not join forces with Porsche as he wanted to take on the fellow German marquee.
However, he revealed the strategy would help Red Bull achieve its aim of being self-sufficient. Wolff explained: “I think it’s a very bold strategy.
“Being self-sufficient is clearly a scenario that Red Bull have always wanted to achieve, have their own power unit, not be dependent of any other OEM. And here we go. That’s the strategy they have deployed. And we shall see what happens in ’26/’27/’28.”
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Horner added: “As soon as we made the decision there was full commitment. It’s no small undertaking, some people are saying we’re completely mad to take on the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes and Renault and potentially even Honda starting from scratch.
“But that is exactly the Red Bull way, to achieve the impossible. That was said about designing and building a chassis. With the quality of people that we’ve managed to recruit, based in the UK, there hasn’t been an investment in the UK like this in an engine facility probably in the last 40 years.
“So that has enabled us to attract some phenomenal talent that we’re still actively recruiting, and announcing some more new members to the team in the near future.”
