In perhaps the biggest news of the 2020 F1 season, Honda announced today that they will be leaving Formula 1 at the end of the 2021 season citing costs and a move to different forms of propulsion for the company. This will leave the Red Bull team seeking a new engine supplier for 2022 and beyond, as well as their sister team Alpha Tauri. While it's not an immovable obstacle, the rules in place ensure a supplier will be found – but it's still going to hurt both Red Bull, and the sport, in several ways.

Potential Of Verstappen Leaving

via Autosport

Perhaps the biggest worry for Red Bull is whether or not they now lose Max Verstappen. Formula 1’s engine rules mean that the supplier with the fewest customers must supply a team if they have no engine deal. So this would be a return of Renault power to both Red Bull and Alpha Tauri. But while this is a problem, so is the potential of losing Max Verstappen. Verstappen signed a long term deal earlier this year to stay with Red Bull until the end of 2023.

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But that would have been on the premise that Honda would power the team for the foreseeable future. That is now not going to happen, and Verstappen might not be happy to see his team return to Renault power. On top of this, Red Bull has had a tough year so far, only winning one race. A Mercedes engine would be ideal, but they already supply Racing Point, McLaren from next season, and Williams so they may not want to supply another team, nor a major rival at that. Ferrari’s engine is also woefully uncompetitive, so Red Bull may not want to risk signing an engine that, right now, can’t even win a race.

A Failure For Hybrids

via The Straits Times

Renault would be forced by the FIA to supply the team. If they can do it amicably, Red Bull would at least get a strong engine, with the Renault coming on well since Red Bull abandoned them in 2018. Perhaps worst of all for F1, though, is that this has shown that the current engines are too expensive, and they have now lost the only new manufacture to enter the sport following the hybrid formula’s introduction.

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