McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown did visit Red Bull's facility in February, adding fuel to the fire, and McLaren's recent hire of top Red Bull designer Rob Marshall gave rise to speculation that this was just the beginning of a much larger partnership between the two companies.
During Red Bull's championship-winning run from 2010 to 2013, Rob Marshall served as the team's chief designer before becoming its first chief technical officer. He has been extensively involved in the new Red Bull Powertrains project.