Disappointments, threats and more recently, refusals, have dominated a somewhat mediocre Formula 1 season for Red Bull, to the point where fans are just hoping they can come to terms with Ferrari.
After owner Dietrich Mateschitz said that he’s willing to pull RBR as well as STR (that’s Red Bull Racing & Scuderia Toro Rosso for you non-F1 fans out there) from Formula One if they can’t land a competitive engine for 2016, the team went on to terminate their engine deal with Renault way ahead of schedule.
What they didn’t plan on, unfortunately, was Mercedes refusing to supply them with what’s clearly the most competitive engine on the grid. Now, as their plan becomes “Ferrari or Bust”, the team’s no.1 driver, Daniel Ricciardo, says that he expects them to keep racing beyond this year.
“I don’t have any fear, I have faith,” said Ricciardo. “The team want to race, we want to be competitive. That’s for them to make the call. [Red Bull and Toro Rosso] want to be on the grid, both of us, for the numbers and for Formula 1.”
Even though Ricciardo would be left in an awkward position if Red Bull would pull out, odds are that somebody with his talents wouldn’t be unemployed for long.
Still, the Aussie driver doesn’t sound ready to consider that type of scenario. “We’ve only got 20 cars now so you want to see spots filled. It’s for the good of the sport that we stay on the grid and that we are competitive. That’s why I have faith that we’ll be on the grid.”
When asked about the prospect of racing in a Ferrari-powered Red Bull in 2016, Ricciardo said that rival teams should welcome the challenge of taking them on in a straight fight.
“We proved in Singapore that we do have a very good car. If we get some more horsepower we’ll be further up the grid. That’s what we want. Our competitors should relish that challenge.”
While it’s unclear how much Ferrari is looking forward to “relishing” that challenge, Mercedes are definitely not feeling up to it.
Story references: Autosport
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