Red Bull could receive Merc engines in Aston Martin deal
With the relationship between Red Bull and engine partner Renault almost unsalvageable after more reliability problems, it’s no secret that the Red Bull outfit is on the lookout for a new engine supplier. Earlier they were linked to a move to Ferrari power units. Quite frankly, anybody but Mercedes would result in more frustration. Honda? No thanks.
This is why a potential deal with Aston Martin could be more than just a silly rumour. Mercedes owns 5% of Aston Martin and a deal with Red Bull would see the team run the championship-winning engine with Aston Martin becoming the corporate face with their company branding on the cars.
For Mercedes the deal makes sense. Being involved with several teams is economically more viable as it spreads the cost of development and can be leveraged from a marketing perspective. And while Mercedes would understandably be wary of brand confusion, Aston Martin is not seen as a competitor to Mercedes in terms of mainstream road cars.
Amidst the rumours, which reportedly have been met with approval by the board at Mercedes, Autocar caught up with Toto Wolff before the British Grand Prix. “We must be open-minded. Our number one objective is to win the world championship. At the moment I would say I cannot see a situation of us supplying an engine to our number one enemy – but maybe we need to recalibrate who our number one enemy is tomorrow and next year.”
Case of keep your friends close, enemies closer hey Wolff? Williams has complained that their Mercedes units are not calibrated in quite the same way and by powering Red Bull, Mercedes would gain a tactical advantage over their competitors’ performance.
Christian Horner was less forthcoming, reiterating that Red Bull has a contract with Renault until 2016 and that anything beyond that was entirely speculative. What is certain is that Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz will try everything possible to find a way out of the contract should Renault continue to underperform.
