How Red Bull can take its destiny into its own hands

With Honda's Hokey Cokey Formula 1 strategy set to enter its latest 'out' phase, Messrs. Horner, Newey and Marko have some thinking to do before presenting Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz with a strategy which doesn't involve his Formula 1 teams playing second fiddle to a manufacturer outfit.

Mercedes is not interested in playing ball, while a customer unit from Maranello comes with no performance guarantees and a limited warranty. In theory that leaves Renault, the company with which Red Bull had a very public 'conscious uncoupling' after years of growing apart.

Like a divorced couple moving back in together just to pay the mortgage, it's doubtful that Christian Horner and Cyril Abiteboul would relish the prospect. They would soon remember why they split up in the first place.

Red Bull's best option comes in the form of Honda bequeathing its entire project, providing a free license on its powertrain technology and the FIA imposing a freeze on development from 2022. In this way, both Red Bull teams could benefit from the continued supply and development of Honda's powertrain until the end of 2025, albeit working with an external provider.

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A number of companies have already been mentioned in this regard, ranging from Mugen to Ilmor, Mecachrome to Cosworth, and there is plenty of talent about - Andy Cowell, anyone? But there is also another candidate.

AVL may not be familiar to F1 fans but it is a leading powertrain company and, with 11,500 employees and £1.8billion in annual revenues, a business that could apply its expertise to good effect 
with Honda's existing power unit.

AVL also has the advantage of being run by CEO Helmut List, 
the son of the company's founder. Both he and the company were born in Graz, Austria - Dr Marko's hometown - and he shares Mateschitz's pride in having a business whose foundations are proudly Styrian.

It all comes down to whether Red Bull wants to work with born racers or fast learners

That said, Red Bull and Honda have a year to transition to a new provider and AVL does not have the F1 experience offered by a company such as Cosworth. Based 30 minutes from Red Bull's Milton Keynes HQ, Cosworth supplies the V12 engine for the Red Bull Technologies-designed Aston Martin Valkyrie and would be the racers' choice were it not for the fact that Dr Marko has traditionally regarded the Northampton company as a spent force.

Back in the autumn of 2009, Cosworth came within a gnat's whisker - for which read a draft contract - of supplying its V8 engines to Red Bull from 2010 onwards, Adrian Newey having paid a visit to see 
a genuine 780bhp run on the dyno. This compared rather favourably with Renault's 750bhp, albeit with a small penalty in weight and thirst. Salzburg, or rather Graz, still said no.

Cosworth's Powertrain Managing Director Bruce Wood is an expert in turbocharged racing engines and the company is capable of pushing Honda's unit forward, but the lure of a home-grown partnership with AVL may prove more attractive. It all comes down to whether Red Bull wants to work with born racers or fast learners.

For Honda, which entered the hybrid era too late, deployed a power unit too early and is set to quit too soon, the saving grace is that it can at least hand Red Bull an opportunity to be master of its own destiny.

Since the new budget cap excludes engine development, this opens an intriguing opportunity for the smart redeployment of research and development resources by Adrian Newey. This might just be the outcome Red Bull needed all along.