Red Bull has confirmed speculation that its highly anticipated works tie-up for 2026 and beyond has "burst".
The ’burst’ comment was made on Sky Deutschland on Sunday by Ralf Schumacher, reflecting widespread paddock rumours about a rift between Red Bull and Porsche over the question of which party will hold the balance of decisive power.
"The deal that was believed to be safe has burst or at least been put on hold for the moment because no agreement could be reached," he added.
It had been expected that Porsche would buy 50 percent of Red Bull Racing.
"Porsche will not become a shareholder with us," Dr Helmut Marko admitted to Sport1.
"We have every ability to build our own engines," Red Bull’s top Austrian official added, amid suggestions Honda may simply decide to officially return to F1 from 2026.
Schumacher agrees: "Why should Red Bull go with Porsche anyway? They have the most complete and most independent package."
If the Red Bull-Porsche deal collapses completely, the former F1 driver thinks "McLaren will be back in the frame again with the best chance, also because of Andi (Andreas) Seidl".
Seidl, now McLaren boss, led Porsche’s Le Mans foray with incredible success. Sport1 insists that with or without Red Bull, "Porsche definitely wants to enter Formula 1 from 2026".
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner on Sunday appeared to also confirm that the Porsche topic is now on the back burner at best.
"We have said that we will become engine manufacturers ourselves from 2026," he said.
"There have been discussions with Porsche, but we are very committed to building an engine - the first Red Bull engine ever.
"It’s a new and exciting chapter for Red Bull, and whether we take a partner for the powertrain business or not is up for debate."