Red Bull "very brave" to develop own F1 engine - Brown
Red Bull's decision to run its own Formula 1 engine programme has been labelled as 'very, very brave' by McLaren CEO Zak Brown.


In the wake of Honda pulling out of F1 at the end of this year, Red Bull has done a deal to take over the Japanese manufacturer's power unit project from 2022.
In the longer term, Red Bull has ambitious plans to create its own engine entirely for new regulations that are set to come in for 2025.
The investment that Red Bull is making for the powertrain project is extensive, and matches what the energy drinks company made when it first took over the Jaguar team at the end of 2004.
But while Brown thinks that Red Bull has the resources and commitment to make a success of the project, he thinks a team doing its own engine is not without risks.
"I think their decision is very, very brave," said Brown. "I think it definitely could be successful. Red Bull is a great racing organisation with lots of resources.
"But I think had the engine freeze not taken place, I'm not sure they would have taken on the project, because it would just require tonnes of continued development resources that would probably push that over the edge of being fiscally feasible.
"So I think it was good that we got to a place where the rules are slowing down the spend."

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB16B
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
With Red Bull committing to taking on the might of major manufacturers like Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault, Brown thinks it will not be an easy thing to be managing.
"It's not without risks," he said. "I think bringing on an organisation like that, with hundreds of employees, you know, that's a lot of work to add to your plate. That being said, they appear to be hiring some very talented people."
Brown says that the unique circumstances of Honda's withdrawal, which has given Red Bull a ready-made engine from the off, is the only thing that made the project viable.
Read Also:
It's why he thinks it unlikely McLaren would consider doing its own power unit for now.
"Because of the way they were able to take over an existing engine and lots of IP and infrastructure, that's made it much more cost effective than starting from scratch," added Brown.
"I don't see McLaren doing engines anytime soon, because I don't think Red Bull would have moved into the engine space had this opportunity to take off where Honda left off, presented itself."
Related video

F1 Portuguese GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying
Alfa Romeo asks FIA to review Raikkonen's Imola penalty

Latest news
Top 10 Brabham drivers ranked: Piquet, Lauda, Gurney and more
Its 30 years since the Brabham team started its last world championship grand prix. Time to pick out the best drivers of the once-great Formula 1 squad.
Why F1 2022 tech isn’t all about porpoising and sidepods
Once fears over identikit Formula 1 cars were allayed by visibly different approaches to sidepods and floors, other novel design features have cropped up around the rest of the car.
Bottas feels greater "human effect" on F1 car performance at Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas feels he is able to have a greater "human effect" on the performance of his Alfa Romeo Formula 1 car compared to what he found at Mercedes.
Norris: Long-term McLaren F1 deal allows for better work-life balance
Lando Norris believes his long-term Formula 1 deal with McLaren has allowed him to strike a better work-life balance and relax more away from racing.
The 10 stories to watch out for across the rest of the 2022 F1 season
It’s 13 down, nine to go as the Formula 1 teams pause for breath in the summer break. But what can we expect to happen over the next three months from Belgium to Abu Dhabi? Here's the key storylines to keep an eye out for the rest of the 2022 season
The inconvenient truth about F1’s ‘American driver’ dream
OPINION: The Formula 1 grid's wait for a new American driver looks set to continue into 2023 as the few remaining places up for grabs - most notably at McLaren - look set to go elsewhere. This is despite the Woking outfit giving tests to IndyCar aces recently, showing that the Stateside single-seater series still has some way to go to being seen as a viable feeder option for F1
How a bad car creates the ultimate engineering challenge
While creating a car that is woefully off the pace is a nightmare scenario for any team, it inadvertently generates the test any engineering department would relish: to turn it into a winner. As Mercedes takes on that challenge in Formula 1 this season, McLaren’s former head of vehicle engineering reveals how the team pulled of the feat in 2009 with Lewis Hamilton
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate and devoid of the usual racing driver airs and graces, Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24 into a winning car with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. And now it’s happening again at his current team, but can the rate of progress be matched this year?
Why few could blame Leclerc for following the example of Hamilton’s exit bombshell
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior