According to a recent report, Red Bull Racing is now trying to secure a Renault power unit for the 2016 season, for themselves as well as for Toro Rosso. Could it be a little too late though?
Nobody seems to want to bite the bullet and simply hand Red Bull a competitive engine for next year. Mercedes are clearly out of the picture, and Ferrari as of yet aren’t willing to make a deal either. Now, it appears Red Bull is talking to Renault again, after deciding to end their long-lasting partnership last month.
Do you think Renault feels in certain ways about it? You bet they do! “The bottom line is we will do what’s good for Renault. But frankly when you see the way we have been treated, it’s going to be a very difficult sell to my board and to my executive management to do something else to what is currently planned.”
Those were Renault Sport boss Cyril Abiteboul’s words regarding this issue, making it clear that they’re not happy with what was said about them (mainly all the chatter coming from Red Bull this season) and that they’re not exactly willing to do something else other than focus on their 2016 factory team.
Despite saying that Renault doesn’t want to “see Red Bull out of the sport”, Abiteboul also added that “They’ve made very, very strong comments about the fact they did not want to work with Renault any more. It’s difficult for me to judge anything else at the minute.”
Whether or not you’re a Red Bull Racing fan or just a Formula 1 fan, you really have to feel sorry for these guys. They have a great team, great drivers and most of all a great car – the only thing missing is a competitive power unit – which they’d hoped they would be able to secure with Mercedes.
Now, for lack of a better term, they’re “out on the streets” and not even Honda is willing to partner up and become an engine supplier.
Hopefully Bernie Ecclestone is able to convince some of the people in charge at Ferrari to supply Red Bull with brand new engines and not year-old ones, which was the only deal Ferrari was said to be interested in making.
Story references: autosport