We are still in the middle of the 2022 season, a somewhat unusual and unpredictable season also due to the new technical regulation, which has allowed the teams to start from scratch, upsetting the hierarchies on the track. Formula 1 grows, evolves and another step in this process is represented by the introduction of new generation of Power Units in 2026. The arrival of this new motor cycle will also bring two new ones to the Circus motorists: Porsche e Audi. If regarding Audi there is still any doubt about the team which will flank, the marriage of Porsche with Red Bull would already be certain, with the acquisition by Porsche of a 50% stake in Red Bull's F1 operations.
However, the agreement has not yet been made official due to a delay in the approval of the 2026 engine regulation. This delay led the two sides to scrap the first date for the announcement of the partnership, i.e. the weekend of the Austrian Grand Prix, Red Bull's home race. The definitive announcement should therefore have arrived on August 4 with the start of the FIA World Council, but we are on August 5, in the middle of the summer break, the tension in the Volkswagen Group it rises but everything is silent. Why?
Matter of details
What presses, on one side and on the other is have guarantees, clarity on some details not yet defined, such as the cost ceiling, the number of hours allowed for bench tests for new manufacturers, or the material used to make the engine pistons. Without a clear reference point on the criteria for the construction of the new engines a delay in electronic voting provided by the World Motor Sport Council, originally scheduled for August 2. “The decision of the VW board of directors is this: if the technical regulations meet their criteria, then they have the mandate to enter Formula 1." Red Bull super consultant Helmut Marko told Motorsport-Total.com.
“This is mainly about cost caps, sustainability, zero-emission fuel, equal opportunities as newcomers, increased computing power and so on. In purely formal terms, however, these new regulations do not exist yet. It is assumed that the FIA president will soon put them to a vote in an email consultation. Only then will things officially kick off".
All postponed
The vote has been postponed to 8 August and the results, given that members have a few days to vote, could be further delayed due to the summer break. At the end of the fair, therefore, we would arrive in the middle of the month for the official announcement by Red Bull which has in recent days announced that the Honda will continue to provide technical assistance for its power units and engines until the end of 2025.
On the possibility that these delays are due to pressures gives part of other teams competitors like Ferrari e Mercedes, who promptly denied the hypothesis in question, Helmut Marko does not deny that according to him some teams are “trying to get the best for themselves”, stealing time from newcomers to prepare.
Source: Motorsport.com
