For the last two seasons, Max Verstappen and Red Bull have dominated the F1 grid. The team’s extraordinary success can be attributed to a number of factors, with the side’s strong reliability with the Honda engine playing a crucial role. However, this solid bond between the Japanese manufacturers, and the squad is going to end in 2025. With this, the Austrian outfit’s dominance could possibly end too. According to the Dutchman Tim Coronel, Ford’s new alliance with Red Bull will only be pushing the six-time champions towards a title slump.
In 2021, Red Bull overthrew Mercedes as the dominant force. Following that, the squad won a title the very next season with multiple races to spare. As Red Bull widened its lead over the competition during the season, its competitors were constantly at work figuring out the best setup. They all came up with innovative solutions to topple Red Bull but failed comprehensively.
It would be unfair to Max Verstappen’s supernatural dominance if we give all the credit to the machinery. The man has shown blistering speed on the racetrack, winning 13 of the 16 races so far in 2023. In addition to Red Bull’s flawless race day operations, Honda’s amazing engine power and reliability have helped the team immensely.
However, the happiness might end soon as the Japanese manufacturer will cut ties with Red Bull after the 2025 season. Red Bull already has a replacement in Ford lined up. I n Tim Coronel’s opinion, Red Bull will still struggle to win titles with this collaboration.
How will the Red Bull-Ford partnership cause the team’s title quest to falter?
Initially, Honda ended their collaboration with Red Bull in 2021 since it wanted to concentrate on electrification. Behind the scenes, however, things were different because Honda still provided the engines to Red Bull and its sister team Alpha Tauri. While Honda opted to cancel its farewell in the interim, the Milton-Keynes based outfit came up with a strategy to set up its own powertrain department. This would be accelerated when Ford join hands with them in 2026.
According to Tim Coronel, this is what Red Bull should worry about. He insists that it won’t be easy for the six-time world champions to make their own engines from scratch.
In his conversation with GP fans, Coronel said, “It’s Red Bull’s to make it work. Let me put that first and I also think they have the knowledge, but will they get it done during that period? How long did it take Honda to get a power unit to this level? Do you really think you can do that faster? I hold my heart, 2026 is not going to be him.”
Although Coronel later clarified that the Red Bull team must be in a panic state due to the looming tensions over a solid engine, the situation with Honda is still slightly different. The team is now moving to work with Aston Martin after offering its amazing service to the Austrian team.
Tim Coronel expresses optimism over the Aston Martin-Honda collaboration
At the moment, Aston Martin is using a Mercedes engine. Even though there haven’t been many engine problems for the team, having a reputable power unit as the main supplier will only boost their chances of winning the championship in the future. In light of this, Tim Coronel believes that the Silverstone-based outfit has taken a significant step by working with Honda.
He said, ” Strategically, I think [Lawrence] Stroll is very good. They go to the Honda Powertrain, of course. And that’s the best [engine] you can have right now.” Given that it is clearly obvious Honda will supply Aston Martin with an engine from 2026, the split with Red Bull that is imminent has exposed the true nature of their partnership. Koji Watanabe, president of Honda Racing, gave De Telegraph part of the information.
AMF1 Team has today announced it is entering into a works partnership with Honda from 2026.
The Japanese manufacturer will supply power units to the team from the 2026 season.
Find out more below.
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) May 24, 2023
The president remarked, ” Red Bull doesn’t tell us anything about their engine, and we don’t say anything to them about our development, So there is already a kind of information war going on at the moment.” The Japanese manufacturers are quite clear about their goals since they only want the best for their customers. In a nutshell, Watanabe explained how he wants to see Red Bull triumph until 2025. However, on the flip side, after 2025, he also wants to be their biggest rival for the title in the years to come.
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