Red Bull stands to get more options if Toro Rosso signs a deal with Honda, says Christian Horner.
McLaren is in final stages of a four-way deal that will see the Woking based company get Renault engine next year and Toro Rosso gets Honda’s engine and Sponsorship.
The two teams and engine makers have been talking for a little over a month to figure out the details of the arrangements, the financial implications, compensations, etc.
Speaking about the issue Horner said, “It’s not our business but at the end of the day, certain things have to fall into place,”
“There’s obviously discussion around what are McLaren doing with Honda, does that open up other avenues for Toro Rosso for instance?
“Until McLaren and Honda sort out their business, nothing else will happen.”
Horner admitted that the junior team’s switch gives them a few options which were unavailable earlier.
Red Bull had a rough couple of races with Renault and the relationship has been sore at many instances in the current season.
“For us, that scenario could be quite interesting as it would provide an option,” he said.
“At the moment we don’t have any options. In this business, you always want to have a few options available to you.”
The time for indecision is over and the swap needs to happen soon, else it will impact next year’s car design Horner reminded.
“It doesn’t directly affect us. It’s much more of a Toro Rosso issue as they’ll have to design a car and a gearbox around that power unit if they decide to go down that route for next year.
“It’s getting pretty late in the day now, so that’s why we’re very much at a cut-off. I think that applies to McLaren as well if they were to change.
“So it’s a little bit like musical chairs, just waiting for the music to stop.”
As a part of the deal, there have been talks about ‘ loaning’ Carlos Sainz to Renault. The youngest has become impatient after driving for the junior team since 2015.
While ruling out ending his contract, Horner had mentioned he will willing to trade Sainz for a fair value. This could be the opportunity the Spaniard has been waiting to move to a bigger team.
Will the deal go through as we imagined? How will this affect McLaren’s financials?
