Red Bull brush off reports of split with engine partner Renault at end of next season
>> SINGAPORE: Renault and Red Bull have both described as “speculation” reports that they will be ending their engine partnership after next season.
The pair won four consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ titles together at the turn of the decade but the relationship has been fractious since a new 1.6 litre V6 turbo hybrid power unit was introduced in 2014.
Renault’s engines have proved less competitive than those of rivals Mercedes and Ferrari, bringing the pair to the brink of a divorce that was only averted when Red Bull failed to find an alternative supply.
The team currently run Renault engines under Tag Heuer branding.
“We will have a TAG Heuer Renault-provided engine and that will be the case for next year,” Red Bull principal Christian Horner told reporters on Friday after McLaren and Renault announced a new threeyear partnership.
“Anything beyond that is speculation, conjecture, and there will be all kinds of rumours, I’m sure, between now and then,” the Briton added.
With Honda leaving McLaren for Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso, that deal allows Red Bull to evaluate the Japanese manufacturer’s performance next season with a view to subsequently using their engines too.
The BBC, citing multiple sources, and Sky Sports television have both reported that Renault had told Red Bull the company no longer wanted to supply the team after 2018.
“I think it’s more on the Red Bull camp to define what’s best for them medium-to-long-term,” Renault’s F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul told reporters in Singapore.
Should Renault decide not to supply Red Bull after next year, the team owned by Austrian energy drinks billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz would have no choice but to run Honda power in 2019.
That could make it hard for them to hang on to their race-winning drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.
“It’s down to us to produce a good car, be competitive and then, of course, why would the drivers want to be anywhere else?” said Horner.
Formula One’s current engine rules run to 2020, after which new suppliers could come in.
Red Bull are already connected to sportscar maker Aston Martin, with whom they are developing a road car. The Formula One cars also carry some branding for the marque.
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz hailed a new chapter in his Formula One career, after Renault announced he would race for them in 2018, while Britain’s Jolyon Palmer and Poland’s Robert Kubica must seek seats elsewhere.
“To be a Formula One driver for a manufacturer team is an honour,” the Spaniard, currently at Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso, said in a Renault statement.
The 23-year-old will replace Palmer alongside Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg in a move resulting from Toro Rosso’s switch from Renault engines to Honda, which was also announced at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Palmer has failed to score a point in 13 races this season and has limited options even if he said he was “excited about the future”.
Red Bull have last season’s GP2 (now Formula Two) champion Pierre Gasly on their books and the Frenchman could now get the debut he has been itching for.
Toro Rosso serves as a feeder team for Red Bull and the company’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko indicated a move was likely when he said Sainz’s exit “will also allow us to bring a new talent into Formula One”.
Force India are keen to keep their highly-rated pairing of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon while Sauber are expected to bring in Ferrari-backed Formula Two leader Charles Leclerc in place of Mercedes-backed German Pascal Wehrlein.