Red Bull chief reveals the team had a “handshake deal” for power unit supply with Mercedes in 2019 but Toto Wolff vetoed it

Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko recently recalled how the team was willing to become Mercedes's customer and take engines from them back in 2019. He also explained the reason for the shift in power units, despite fierce rivalry with the Silver Arrows.

From 2007 to 2018, the current world champion used Renault engines in its cars. Though the French power units allowed the team to dominate the sport from 2010 to 2013, their relationship deteriorated when the FIA brought changes to power unit regulations in 2014. After 2014, it was Mercedes that began its dominance in the hybrid era with Lewis Hamilton.

Despite its struggles, Red Bull continued to work with Renault but eventually decided to shift engine suppliers in 2018. Though it chose Honda as its next power unit supplier, Marko recalled how the team had a "handshake deal" with late F1 driver and Mercedes senior advisor, Niki Lauda, that the Silver Arrows would provide its engines. Marko claimed on the podcast "Inside Line F1" that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff called off the deal.

“So we had a deal with Mercedes – a handshake deal with Lauda – which was not supported by Toto, so the deal didn’t happen.” [14:00]

Before this recollection, Marko explained how Red Bull struggled with Renault power units. He added that he had to convince the team's late owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, to accept the Mercedes engine deal, even though they were fierce on-track rivals in F1.

"(In) 2014, the new engine rules came and our engine supplier unfortunately could not make a competitive engine. Even so there was quite a big rivalry with Mercedes, and also our boss was not a big fan, and I said, 'Listen, this our engine, we can't motivate people anymore, because everybody knows with this engine, you can't win.'"

The Austrian further explained how the team boldly decided to go with Honda engines in 2019.

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Helmut Marko on how Red Bull shifted from Renault to Honda engines in 2019

Helmut Marko recollected that Red Bull had an engine deal with Mercedes in 2019. Speaking on the "Inside Line F1" podcast, he said he had inside information about Honda's future power unit project. He was confident enough to take the plunge, despite being aware of McLaren's woes with its engines.

“And then we went to Honda. Honda, at that stage, had failed to be competitive with McLaren. But I had some inside information what they are planning to do, so we said, ‘Yes, we go ahead, take this risk,’ which I believed wasn’t a risk, because I knew how much they spent on dynos. AVL is in Graz [in Austria] and so I knew what they spent. So, they were serious about it." [14:15]

Red Bull still runs Honda engines, but the team develops and manages them. It will soon shift to its power units from 2026, which will be created in Milton Keynes, with the help of Ford.