Dr Helmut Marko has denied Jean Todt’s charge that he is trying to “blackmail” the FIA president over his demands regarding Red Bull’s engine decision for 2022. “This is not blackmail, this is a fact,” Marko said of the quit threat. Marko said Red Bull is highly reluctant to return to the days of being a mere engine customer, with Mercedes already ruling out a 2022 deal. And there is this new confidence at Renault that they will tear everything down with their new engine and Mr Alonso in 2022,” Marko added. On the other hand, he said handling the Honda engines in conjunction with a 2022 development freeze would not cost “exorbitantly” more than the EUR 15 million cost of being a customer.

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