F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone said that Honda is willing to supply Red Bull with engines next season but McLaren Chair & CEO Ron Dennis "is blocking any deal," according to Alan Baldwin of REUTERS. Ecclestone said, "At the moment it would appear that Honda are happy to give them an engine and Mr. Dennis thinks they shouldn't." Ecclestone said that Honda agreed years ago with FIA and himself that "they would be willing to supply two teams in their second year back in Formula One and three in the third." The Japanese manufacturer sold its works team and pulled out at the end of '08, "but returned this year as engine supplier to McLaren." There "was no immediate response from Honda." McLaren Racing Dir Eric Boullier "would not comment when asked on Friday about the veto." Renault "could also still be an option, despite the bad relations, but the French manufacturer has yet to announce its plans for the future despite talk of them taking over Lotus." Ecclestone said that "he did not know whether Renault would continue." Mercedes has ruled out supplying Red Bull while Ferrari appears "willing only to provide them to the former champions' sister team Toro Rosso" (REUTERS, 10/24). In a separate article, Baldwin wrote Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner was talking to Volkswagen about an F1 partnership "before a diesel emissions scandal seemingly scuppered plans." Horner said, "There has been discussion with the VW Group which obviously ... with their current issues probably Formula One is the last thing on their mind. There were other discussions that will become apparent no doubt in the future as well, other promises that were made." Horner's team still has "no confirmed engine partner for next year." Horner: "There’s an awful lot of speculation and conjecture about our situation at the moment. Once everything is finalized I’m sure it will all become extremely clear." Germany's Auto Bild reported last month that Volkswagen-owned Audi was "close to a deal to take over Red Bull's team and run it with sponsorship from the Austrian energy drink company." The magazine said that "the deal had been approved by company bosses and just needed signing." Shortly afterwards Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, "admitted to rigging U.S. diesel emissions tests and said banned software could be inside up to 11 million vehicles worldwide" (REUTERS, 10/23). The BBC's Andrew Benson reported Red Bull currently has "no engine partner for next season." Earlier this year, Owner Dietrich Mateschitz said that "he would pull his team out of F1 if they could not find a competitive engine." But on Friday Horner said that quitting F1 "for me is not an option -- I am working very hard to make sure the team is on the grid and competitive." He said withdrawal from F1 was an option for Mateschitz but that the Austrian billionaire was "committed to finding a solution." The most likely solution is said "by insiders to be that they will use a Renault engine badged with another name in 2016" (BBC, 10/23).
