Honda rule out supplying power to Red Bull

Bulls left stranded? Honda is the latest in a series of manufacturers to refuse the team

Japanese automakers Honda, who currently supply only one team on the F1 grid – McLaren – have said they will not supply Infiniti Red Bull Racing and its junior/sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso with power units for the coming season, reports motorsport.com

A Honda spokesperson, referring to the automaker's chief of motorsport Yasuhisa Arai, said in an official statement from the company, “As Arai-san has said, Honda has no plans of supplying a second team next year, and this has not changed. As Honda have always said since returning to Formula 1, we are open to supplying additional teams in the near future.”

It would be a long process, both developmentally and logistically, to join forces with another team for the coming year, she said. "However, as it is very late in the 2015 calendar year to make such decisions, it is unlikely that we will be supplying any other teams for the 2016 season.”

Red Bull have already ended their relationship with engine manufacturers Renault, with whom they will split at the end of the 2015 season. Mercedes have already refused to supply the team with engines, saying it would be bad for competition. This leaves Red Bull with only one likely option – going onto Ferrari power.

In addition to the Italian automakers’ own iconic works team, Scuderia Ferrari, Marussia and Sauber also run on Ferrari power units, but have not had much success this season. F1’s latest entrant, Haas, will also be on Ferrari power units and are touted as Ferrari’s B-team, much like Toro Rosso are to Red Bull. Romain Grosjean was recently announced as the primary driver for the team.