Red Bull may lose star pair as Renault quit

RED BULL face losing both star drivers, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, after Renault said they will not supply their engines after next season. Renault’s surprise decision also raises the possibility that Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull’s Austrian billionaire owner, may pull out of Formula One. Milton Keynes-based Red Bull were tipped to push Mercedes close this season. Instead, they have managed just one win — in June’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix — and lie a distant third in the pecking order behind Mercedes and Ferrari. Red Bull’s unspectacular form had already prompted both Verstappen and Ricciardo to question whether enough progress was being made. Team principal Christian Horner previously insisted Verstappen would stay until the end of 2019 but Renault’s exit might tempt the driver to trigger an escape clause to leave when the French manufacturers go. Team-mate Ricciardo is a free agent from the end of the 2018 season. Honda are Renault’s likely replacement. The Japanese company are splitting from McLaren, whose new tie-up with Renault from 2018 will be announced today before the Singapore Grand Prix.