The beginning to the Red Bull Powertrains project seems imminent as announced by Christian Horner in a video update on the team's social media accounts. Horner revealed that the team had recruited close to 200 people that were currently scattered across the campus. These recruits will get to work under the same roof as Red Bull Powertrains will come live in less than eight weeks.
Speaking about the project in a video update, Horner said:
“Within the next eight weeks the first members of the team will be moving in and Red Bull Powertrains comes live on campus, Obviously, we’ve got more than 200 people recruited at the moment within the project and they’re scattered around the site but they’ll be moving into their new home imminently.”
He further went on to say:
“This is just phase one of a three-phase plan for powertrains so we’ve still got further development with the manufacturing side which again will be based here in Milton Keynes. And the synergies that allows between chassis and engine and having the incorporation of that all under one roof, other than Ferrari, we’re the only team in Formula 1 to have that.”
The project came into existence after Honda decided to pull out of F1 after the 2021 season. The drinks company, left with no other viable option, had to resort to going ahead with an unprecedented homegrown powertrain unit. With the engine freeze now in place, the Red Bull powertrain unit will not have to incur the extra costs that come with engine development.
Red Bull sees members joining in from Honda HRD UK
The team will also leverage the help and expertise of the Honda technical team that will be on-site to provide support at all stages. Christian Horner shed further light on the project and shared that the dyno has been installed since November and is going through the commissioning stage right now.
The 48-year-old said:
“We’re assembling a really talented technical team and operational team. We’re welcoming the members that will be joining us from Honda HRD UK and its exciting times. I think it’s a really exciting phase for our journey in Formula 1 and you can see the commitment that is going in with what will be a world-class facility.”
He further went on to add, saying:
“The dyno is about to go through the commissioning stage now. It’s been being installed since November last year. It’s going to be exciting to see our first engines running and then it won’t be long after that the first Red Bull designed power units start to come on stream. To have it all on-site, on-campus here in Milton Keynes is so exciting.”
This will be the first year where the powertrains unit will take over from Honda as the power unit supplier for both AlphaTauri and the senior racing team. It remains to be seen, however, whether the team can transition as seamlessly as possible without too many shortcomings.