Helmut Marko Reveals The Red Bull Mercedes Partnership Which Could Have Been - 'Handshake Deal'

Helmut Marko revealed a failed Red Bull-Mercedes F1 engine partnership.

Oct 23, 2022; Austin, Texas, USA; Helmut Marko of Red Bull Racing Team holds up the World Constructors' Champions trophy after the running of the U.S. Grand Prix F1 race at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko recently disclosed a near-partnership between Red Bull Racing and Mercedes F1 engines that never materialized.

During an appearance on the Inside Line podcast, Marko detailed how the deal was obstructed by Mercedes' team principal, Toto Wolff, despite an initial handshake agreement with Niki Lauda. The potential partnership could have significantly changed the competitive dynamics within F1, especially after Red Bull's struggles in the years following the hybrid era's inception in 2014.

In the dawn of the 2014 hybrid era, Red Bull Racing was at a significant disadvantage with their then-engine supplier, Renault, failing to deliver a competitive engine. In contrast, Mercedes dominated the circuit for the first three seasons, making it increasingly clear to Red Bull that they needed a more robust engine partnership. Marko revealed, as quoted by Crash.net:

 “In 2014, when the new engine rules came in, our engine supplier, unfortunately, couldn't make a competitive engine.

“There was quite a big rivalry with Mercedes, and also our boss [Mateschitz] was not a big fan. I said, 'Listen, with our engine, we can't motivate people anymore, because everybody knows with this engine you can't win'.

“So we had a deal with Mercedes, a handshake deal with Lauda, which was not supported by Toto, so the deal didn't happen."

Facing no viable alternatives, Red Bull continued with Renault engines until 2018. Eventually, they shifted alliances and partnered with Honda in 2019. According to Marko:

“We went to Honda. Honda, at that stage, failed to be competitive with McLaren, but I had some inside information on what they were planning to do, so we said, 'Yes, we go ahead. We take this risk'.

“I believed it wasn't a risk because I knew how much they had spent on dynos. They were serious about it."

“At that moment it was, how did [Fernando] Alonso say, F2 style or power, or something like that, a brave decision. We always took brave decisions. So a little bit no risk, no fun.”

Red Bull will be parting ways with Honda in 2026 as it joins with Ford to develop its own power units.

2024 F1 Constructors' Standings

1. Red Bull Racing - 446 points
2. McLaren - 438 points
3. Ferrari - 407 points
4. Mercedes - 292 points
5. Aston Martin - 74 points
6. VCARB - 34 points
7. Haas - 28 points
8. Alpine - 13 points
9. Williams - 6 points
10. Sauber - 0 points