阿斯顿·马丁与红牛澄清引擎合作传闻
在美国大奖赛后的媒体环节中，阿斯顿·马丁与红牛代表被问及一个与比赛无关的引擎合作话题。阿斯顿·马丁坚称在艰难开局后仍全力投入本田，红牛动力总成则表示目前既无雄心也无产能为红牛体系外的客户车队供应该引擎。
阿斯顿·马丁与红牛为何被问及一个看似不太可能的F1引擎合作
阿斯顿·马丁坚称在艰难开局后仍全力投入本田，而红牛动力总成表示目前既无雄心也无产能为红牛体系外的客户车队供应引擎
费尔南多·阿隆索，阿斯顿·马丁车队，伊萨克·哈贾尔，红牛车队
周日奥斯汀最引人注目的时刻之一并非发生在赛道上，而是在美国大奖赛后的F1围场里。在常规的赛后媒体环节中，阿斯顿·马丁与红牛的代表都被问及一个与美洲赛道比赛几乎无关的话题——事实上恰恰相反。
阿斯顿·马丁的首席赛道官迈克·克拉克和红牛车队领队洛朗·梅基斯都被问及，他们能否排除这两个品牌未来潜在合作的可能性。这似乎相当离奇，当这个问题在他们的媒体采访环节中随机出现时，两人理所当然地显得很惊讶，这就是为什么这件事需要一些背景说明。
这一切都要追溯到一篇BBC的文章以及对其某种不幸的解读。在F1记者安德鲁·本森的常规问答专栏中，有人问他，鉴于红牛福特动力单元在第一个赛季似乎极具竞争力，客户车队是否可能对它感兴趣。
答案非常明确地表明，目前没有F1车队在寻找动力单元，随后正确地强调了一个围场内广为人知的事实：今年早些时候，当F1新时代伊始本田在动力单元方面的落后程度变得显而易见时，阿斯顿·马丁尤其是车队老板劳伦斯·斯特罗尔感到震惊。
这理所当然地导致了一些最初的疑虑和考量，尽管最终决定继续全力投入本田——BBC的文章也正确地强调了这一点。唯一留下些许余地的推测性因素是，如果本田未能在比如2027年或2028年取得预期的进步，那些疑虑可能会重新浮现。
正如F1和当今媒体环境中经常发生的那样，据多位内部人士称，这个故事随后自行发酵，成为了一个本不该如此受关注的更大话题。这是一个自我实现的预言：只要F1围场里有足够多的人被问及某事，无论对错，它都会自动成为一个话题，进而产生报道。这是一种滚雪球效应，因此对此类故事进行客观审视至关重要。
阿斯顿·马丁的视角：放弃潜在的工作协议将极其草率
克拉克和梅基斯在周日晚上都被问及，他们能否否认阿斯顿·马丁与红牛动力总成之间正在进行谈判，这个问题的言外之意自然远远超出了BBC原文章中的任何暗示。克拉克迅速重申了阿斯顿·马丁对本田的长期承诺。
本田赛车公司赛道总经理兼首席工程师折原慎太郎
“我只能说，我们有一个长期合作伙伴，那就是本田，顺便说一句，本周末它已经完成了第500场比赛。而且我认为，当我们一起赢得第一场比赛时，我们也会在一起。”阿斯顿·马丁的代表说道。
需要指出的是，目前的合作伙伴关系和工作协议在理论上提供了巨大的潜力。是的，本田确实还远未达到理想水平，但这家日本制造商此前已经证明，它能够扭转困难局面——想想它和迈凯伦的糟糕开局，最终却与红牛一起赢得了多个世界冠军。
这与阿德里安·纽维在奥斯汀国际汽联新闻发布会上的评论相呼应。当被问及在红牛困难时期所谓的动力问题时，他含蓄地指出了当时车队的引擎合作伙伴雷诺与目前本田关系之间的关键区别。
“作为底盘设计师，如果动力单元制造商有一个糟糕的年份，那就会发生，你接受它。但如果动力单元制造商有一个糟糕的年份，而且似乎没有任何意图去解决问题，那就是完全不同的事情了，到那个时候情况就相当黯淡了。”
“不幸的是，这就是我们在2014年面临的情况。而事实证明，直到我们在2019年改用本田之前，那个供应商带来的情况并没有真正改变。所以，你可以想象我当时有多痛苦和沮丧。”
然而，与本田合作时，情况就大不相同了。这家日本制造商敏锐地意识到当前的短板，并正全力以赴扭转局面，纽维也强调了这一点。
“在本田，现在有大量的精力和项目正在推进，这些或许还处于开发的早期阶段，但我们从中看到了很大的希望。”
这既说明了本田的决心，也说明了从更长远来看仍然存在的潜力。阿斯顿·马丁特意选择了厂商合作，因为这标志着车队发展演变的下一个阶段。
与作为客户车队相比，这不仅提供了更好的机会来塑造合作伙伴关系，还带来了将动力单元更有效地整合到底盘并相互帮助的潜在好处——这是纽维和本田都认定的2027年的关键优先事项。两个品牌仍然完全认识到这一潜力，这使得放弃厂商合作协议极不可能，而且，这是一种极其短视的做法——一种膝跳反应。
红牛的视角：尚未准备好供应客户车队
所有这些都解释了为什么从阿斯顿·马丁的角度来看，继续沿着当前道路前进、给予时间并最终收获这一厂商合作伙伴关系的回报是完全合理的。
然后，当然，还有红牛方面的说法。是的，其与福特合作的动力总成项目起步比许多人想象的要好得多，但据梅基斯称，这并不自动意味着公司已准备好迈出供应客户车队的一步。
“瞧，我们的引擎性能引来了许多不必要的正面关注，这当然也引起了众多车队的注意，”梅基斯笑着说道，他指的是国际汽联的ADUO排名以及未获得研发令牌一事。
“我们有没有和任何人认真谈过为另一支车队供应引擎？没有，我们觉得自己还没准备好。这事未来五年就板上钉钉了吗？没有，因为我不知道未来五年会发生什么。
“但对我们来说，肯定有足够的工作要做，去改进动力单元、改进它在赛车上的集成，并在考虑为小红牛之外再供应一支车队之前，先达到最佳竞争对手的水平。所以未来一年左右不会有任何变化。”
劳伦特·梅基斯，红牛车队领队
制造商向客户车队提供引擎的主要原因之一是收集更多数据，这有利于研发。这也是可能拖累本田的因素之一，因为它只供应一支车队，而且由于所有可靠性问题，在冬季测试和赛季初的比赛中收集到的数据非常少。
然而，对红牛来说，这并非立即接手客户车队的动机，因为它已经有一支客户车队，即其姊妹车队 小红牛。这家位于米尔顿凯恩斯的制造商已经供应两支车队，因此有四辆车可以收集数据。
所有这些意味着，从阿斯顿·马丁和红牛双方的角度来看，这样的合作目前显然不是一个显而易见的选择。关键是要从这个角度看待最近的猜测——换句话说，放在正确的背景下。可以理解，很多事情将取决于本田未来几年的发展，但就目前而言，这又是一个经常成为 F1 围场和当今媒体格局特征的例子：小题大做。
英文原文
Why Aston Martin and Red Bull were asked about an unlikely F1 engine partnership
Aston Martin insists it remains fully committed to Honda after a difficult start, while Red Bull Powertrains says it currently has neither the ambition nor the capacity to supply a customer team from outside the Red Bull organisation
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing, Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
One of the most remarkable moments on Sunday in Austin did not take place on the track itself, but rather in the Formula 1 paddock after the US Grand Prix. During the usual post-race media sessions, both Aston Martin and Red Bull’s representatives were asked about a subject that had very little to do with the race at the Circuit of the Americas – quite the opposite, in fact.
Both Aston Martin's chief trackside officer Mike Krack and Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies were asked whether they could rule out a potential partnership between the two brands in the future. It seems rather extraordinary, and both men understandably looked surprised when that question randomly came up during their media rounds, which is why the matter requires some context.
It all goes back to a BBC article and a somewhat unfortunate interpretation of it. In the regular Q&A column of F1 correspondent Andrew Benson, he was asked whether customer teams might be interested in the Red Bull Ford power unit, given that it appears to be more than competitive in its first year.
The answer made it abundantly clear that no F1 team is currently looking for a power unit and then rightly highlighted something that is widely known in the paddock: the shock at Aston Martin, particularly for team owner Lawrence Stroll, when it became apparent earlier this year just how far behind Honda was on the power unit side at the start of F1’s new era.
That understandably led to some initial doubts and considerations, although the decision was made to remain fully committed to Honda – something the BBC article also correctly emphasised. The only speculative element that left the door slightly open was the possibility that those doubts could resurface if Honda fails to make the expected step forward in, let’s say, 2027 or 2028.
As so often happens in F1 and today's media landscape, the story subsequently took on a life of its own and became a bigger talking point than it should have been, according to several insiders. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy: something automatically becomes a topic, rightly or wrongly, if enough people in the F1 paddock are asked about it, which in turn generates coverage. It is a snowball effect, making it crucial to put such stories into perspective.
The Aston Martin perspective: Abandoning works deal potential would be extremely premature
Both Krack and Mekies were asked on Sunday evening whether they could deny that talks were taking place between Aston Martin and Red Bull Powertrains, with the implication of that question naturally going considerably further than anything suggested in the original BBC article. Krack was quick to reaffirm Aston Martin's long-term commitment to Honda.
Shintaro Orihara, Honda Racing Corporation Trackside General Manager and Chief Engineer
“I can only say we have a long-term partner, which is Honda, that by the way has done its 500th race this weekend. And I think we will be together also when we win our first race together”, the Aston Martin representative said.
It is important to point out that the current partnership and works deal offer enormous potential in theory. Yes, it is true that Honda is nowhere near the desired level yet, but the Japanese manufacturer has previously demonstrated that it can turn a difficult situation around – just think of its false start with McLaren, which eventually led to multiple world titles with Red Bull.
This ties in with Adrian Newey's comments during the FIA press conference in Austin. When asked about alleged motivation problems during the difficult years at Red Bull, he implicitly pointed to a crucial difference between the team's engine partner at the time, Renault, and its current relationship with Honda.
“As a chassis designer, if the PU manufacturer has a bad year, that happens, and you accept it. But if the PU manufacturer has a bad year and doesn’t appear to have any intention of trying to address the problem, that’s altogether a different matter, and that’s quite bleak at that point.
“That’s the situation that unfortunately we faced in 2014. And as it turned out, that situation didn’t really change with that supplier until we changed to Honda in 2019. So, you can imagine my pain and frustration at that time.”
With Honda, however, the situation is very different. The Japanese manufacturer is acutely aware of the current shortcomings and is pulling out all the stops to turn the situation around, something Newey also highlighted.
“At Honda, there’s a lot of energy and projects on the way now that perhaps are in their early stages of development, but we see a lot of promise from those.”
That says something about Honda's determination, but also about the potential that still exists in the longer term. Aston Martin deliberately opted for a works deal, as it marks the next step in the team's evolution.
Not only does it offer a much better opportunity to shape the partnership than would be possible as a customer team, it also brings the potential benefits of integrating the power unit more effectively into the chassis and helping each other – something both Newey and Honda have identified as a crucial priority for 2027. Both brands still fully recognise that potential, which makes abandoning a works deal highly unlikely and, moreover, an extremely short-term approach – something of a knee-jerk reaction.
The Red Bull perspective: Not yet ready to supply a customer team
All of this explains why, from Aston Martin's perspective, it would make perfect sense to continue down the current path, give it time and eventually reap the rewards of this works partnership.
And then, of course, there is Red Bull's side of the story. Yes, its own powertrains project in collaboration with Ford has made a considerably better start than many thought possible, but according to Mekies, that does not automatically mean the company is ready to take the step towards supplying customer teams.
“Look, we got a lot of unwanted, positive publicity about the performance of our engine and that certainly came with attention from a lot of teams”, Mekies smiled, referring to the FIA’s ADUO ranking and not receiving a development token.
“Are we having any serious conversations with anyone to supply another team? No, we don't feel we are ready for that. Is it set in stone for the next five years? No, because I don't know what's going to happen in the next five years.
“But for sure for us, there is enough work on our side to improve the power unit, to improve its integrations in the car, and to get at the level of the best competitors before we can consider being able to supply one more team on top of Racing Bulls. So nothing will change in the next year or so.”
Laurent Mekies, Red Bull Racing Team Principal
One of the main reasons for a manufacturer to supply engines to a customer team is to gather more data, which can benefit development. It is one of the factors that may be hampering Honda, given that it supplies just one team and was able to collect very little data during winter testing and the opening races because of all the reliability problems.
For Red Bull, however, that is not an immediate incentive to take on a customer team, as it already has one in the form of its sister team Racing Bulls. The Milton Keynes-based manufacturer already supplies two teams and therefore has four cars from which to gather data.
All of this means that, from both Aston Martin's and Red Bull's perspectives, such a partnership is certainly not an obvious option at present. It is crucial to view the recent speculation in that light – in other words, in the right context. It is understandable that much will depend on Honda's development over the coming years, but for now, this is another example of something that frequently characterises the F1 paddock and today's media landscape: a storm in a teacup.
Motorsport.com ·
内容来自公开信源，聚合内容版权归原作者与来源所有。