F1 Rumour: McLaren and Red Bull in Secret Talks For Game-Changing Engine Deal

It has been reported that McLaren and Red Bull are in talks for the 2026 season.

McLaren team boss Zak Brown recently visited the Red Bull Racing factory for a secret meeting to discuss the potential of an engine partnership from 2026, according to a leading press agency. 

Brown is said to have met with Red Bull officials to explore the possibilities for a deal that would see McLaren using engines from Red Bull Powertrains when their current deal with Mercedes expires.

Despite McLaren being locked into using Mercedes power units for the next three seasons, they are yet to find a suitable partner for after that. The team has contacted Honda, which is still involved in the production of Red Bull's power sources, but is also reviewing other options.

Red Bull plans to rely internally for engine development from 2026 through its Powertrains project, which is supported by car manufacturer Ford. However, Ford's role is understood to be more from a branding standpoint in terms of marketing and advertising. McLaren is curious whether the tie-up with Ford could also be of interest to them, and that is the reason why Brown visited Red Bull.

According to a report by PA Media, which was carried by the Independent newspaper, Brown visited Red Bull's engine division to map out a possible deal. A Red Bull spokesperson confirmed that Brown had indeed come for a cup of coffee, but did not reveal any details about the content of the visit.

Brown did not reveal too much about the situation at the McLaren car launch last week, but he did mention that it was exciting to see how many manufacturers are coming into the sport. He added that they are doing their due diligence on what's going on in the environment, and what 2026 could look like. He said that they will make a decision in the not-too-distant future.

If Red Bull signs a deal with McLaren, it will commit to a real customer team for the first time. Such an agreement for 2026 would also see that it happens in the first year where it is no longer tied in with Honda. There is experience already of what it is like to deliver multiple power units, because these are currently also rolling off the production line for AlphaTauri, Red Bull's sister team.

However, having an external customer team would constitute an altogether different story, with different interests and relationships. Red Bull knows about this acutely from the time when it was at loggerheads with Renault. Tensions ran so high that Red Bull eventually broke with the French manufacturer and decided to join forces with Honda. If an agreement is reached with McLaren or any other team, then Red Bull would find itself on the other end of that equation.