Ferrari, Mercedes alliance blocks major advantage for F1 rivals Red Bull 

Red Bull will not have the privileges allotted to a new power unit supplier entering the sport.

To make the field more balanced and ensure all the competitors are on the same level, any new F1 manufacturer has certain privileges, which include extra spending budget. Red Bull looked to get the concession with its new powertrain division, but Ferrari, Mercedes, and Alpine unanimously opposed it.

As reported by La Gazzetta, the teams have succeeded, and Red Bull will not get the concessions. The report says:

"It was a long tug of war. But in the end, Red Bull had to give up. It will not have the "status" of new engine manufacturer that would have guaranteed it many advantages in view of 2026, when the second generation hybrid power units will make their debut.

It was a very delicate strategic game. And the other great rivals lined up against Red Bull. Ferrari has put its foot down, with the president John Elkann who has personally taken an interest in the matter, together with the CEO Benedetto Vigna, also to assert the political weight of the Cavallino."

The report adds:

"There was a compact front of opponents, which also included Mercedes, Renault (Alpine) and obviously Audi, the first signatory of the 2026 "pact" and the only real new manufacturer that will be at the start with a unit built in-house from scratch."

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Why did Red Bull concession not go through?

The reason why the Austrian team apparently did not get the concessions was because that had acquired the intellectual property rights of the Honda power unit that will be with them till the 2025 season.

Moreover, Red Bull have been on a hiring spree, including Ben Hodgkinson from Mercedes, that puts them in a much better position than any new start-up constructor. The aforementioned report says:

"The Powertrain division of the Milton Keynes team, despite being a recently born structure, can already count on a patrol of engineers taken from other teams, in particular from Mercedes. Suffice it to mention Ben Hodgkinson, appointed technical director and five other top-level engineers from Brixworth."

It adds:

"Red Bull has acquired the intellectual property rights of the Honda power unit with which it currently runs and which it will keep until 2025. The reverse of Christian Horner, who later denied it, did not help. Red Bull's knowledge of hybrid and electrification in F1 is therefore so extensive that it can be considered on par with the competition."

It will be interesting to see how things pan out in 2026, but it's safe to say that the denial of concession could have an impact on Red Bull's preparations and the power unit it delivers.