Christian Horner pulled plug on major Red Bull deal over control fears

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Christian Horner thwarted ‘advanced’ talks over a Red Bull engine deal, according to BBC Sport journalist Andrew Benson.

Red Bull set up its own powertrains division in 2021 ahead of Honda’s withdrawal from the sport.

They nearly struck a deal with a rival manufacturer for 2026 before Horner got involved.

While the engines no longer carry the Honda badge, the partnership will continue behind the scenes until the end of next year.

At that stage, when the sport sees the biggest change to its power unit rules since 2014, Red Bull will enter into a new joint-enterprise with Ford.

Christian Horner blocked Red Bull deal with Porsche

Writing in a Q&A for BBC Sport, Benson explained that Porsche hoped to strike an engine deal with Red Bull for 2026.

Negotiations reached an ‘advanced’ stage, and late CEO Dietrich Mateschitz pushed for an agreement.

However, talks ‘broke down’ after Horner expressed concerns about losing control under the new arrangement.

In the end, the team were able to hash out more favourable terms with Ford.

“Porsche was intending to enter F1 in 2026 along with sister brand Audi, both members of the Volkswagen Group.

“Each brand had a different plan. Audi’s was to run its own team – and it has bought Sauber and is going ahead with its entry, more on which below.

“Porsche’s plan was to partner with an existing team as an engine partner, and they chose Red Bull.

“Talks became pretty advanced, and the late Red Bull co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz was very much in favour.

“But team principal Christian Horner became uncomfortable about the amount of control he would cede as part of the plan, which would have resulted in Porsche becoming a 50% shareholder, and talks broke down.

“Red Bull have now joined forces with US car giant Ford, which will partner with the team’s new powertrains facility on their 2026 engine.”

Will Max Verstappen leave Red Bull?

Red Bull’s position at the very top of Formula 1 means there’s bound to be interest in their personnel both on and off track.

For instance, Ferrari are apparently keen to poach three key engineers to work with 2025 acquisition Lewis Hamilton.

But the biggest story is Mercedes’ interest in Max Verstappen as they look to replace the Briton.

Toto Wolff personally wants to bring in the Dutchman, who has won the last three titles.

But he also recognises the difficulty of luring him from a dominant Red Bull team.

Much may depend on the future of director Helmut Marko, since there’s a clause in Verstappen’s contract that allows him to leave if the Austrian is no longer part of the set-up.