Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has denied that “serious conversations” are taking place with any rival F1 teams over supplying power units, but did not rule out the possibility in the future.
Mekies did not go as far as refuting that any talks are happening with Aston Martin, with the Silverstone-based squad at the centre of recent speculation that it could ditch Honda for Red Bull Powertrains (RBPT) as early as 2028.
Aston Martin chief trackside officer Mike Krack believes the team will still be with the Japanese marque when it wins its first grand prix in F1, but with the partnership sputtering straight out of the gates, the rumours came as no real surprise.
Red Bull, on the other hand, has enjoyed a much more fruitful start to life in collaboration with Ford, and the team’s fledgling internal combustion engine has defied expectations, including being established as the benchmark in the FIA’s additional development and upgrade opportunities (ADUO) programme.
Although the Milton Keynes-based team has questioned the motorsport governing body on how that conclusion was reached, given the dominance of the Mercedes power unit overall, it underlines how impressive the early returns of the project have been, something that has in part triggered the recent flurry of reports.
When speculation that RBPT could supply Aston Martin from 2028 was put to Mekies, and he was asked whether he was in a position to deny any talks between the parties, the Frenchman shut down any immediate possibility, but did not rule it out altogether.
“Look, we got a lot of unwanted positive publicity about the performance of our engine, and that certainly came with attention from a lot of teams,” the Red Bull team principal told media, including RacingNews365.
“Are we having any serious conversations with anyone to supply another team? No. We don’t feel we are ready for that.
“Is it set in stone for the next five years? No, because I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next five years.”
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When might Red Bull consider becoming a power unit provider?
With enhancing the power unit restricted to software updates and better integration and understanding, unless granted development tokens through ADUO, Red Bull has nonetheless made significant strides over the season.
Mekies insisted that the primary focus remains on improving the power unit and not selling it to potential customers, with considerable work still to be done, even if RBPT cannot develop the hardware — as the benchmark team — at this stage.
He said: “But for sure, for us, there is enough work to do on our side to improve the power unit, to improve its integration in the car, and to get to the level of the best competitors before considering being able to supply one more team on top of Racing Bulls.
Tellingly, he added that “nothing will change in the next year or so”, which fits conveniently with the rumoured 2028 timeframe for Aston Martin to purchase a supply.