Red Bull hit out at Renault - again

[jens]

The issue is that Red Bull's standards are so high. They have won so many championships, they "demand" the best, which means they expect no less than top-notch quality from their partners as well, in this case Renault. If Renault's customer was Force India or Sauber, they could care less as long as they got engines cheap. I think Red Bull is trying to pressure Renault to make a decision ane make up their mind - invest properly into the engine programme, take F1 seriously. Because otherwise they have no chance of succeeding.

It reminds a bit of the BMW.Williams combination back in the day. Arguably BMW had the most powerful engine in the field, but Williams chassis was never quite a match up to that standard and they never won a championship together. BMW got frustrated and eventually bought Sauber, leaving Williams out in cold. Yeah, the BMW Sauber project yielded less success in the end, but that's another story.

[The Black Knight]

So breaking news is that Mercedes has now decided to reject a Red Bull Engine deal. With the news breaking earlier that Renault will not be supplying engines to RBR next year, then unless RBR can get a new manufacturer to enter the sport and build a spanking new engine in 6 months, then without a Ferrari deal (which is unlikely) or Honda (equally unlikely) it looks to me that they won't have an Engine and may not be able to run next year. Oh well, serves them right if that ends up being the case, I say, given their berating of Renault. A so long to the nagging sore losers that are RBR.

The only maybe saving grace for them would be a switch to Honda should McLaren relations break down so much that they split which is again extremely unlikely.

I wonder what they will do?

[Mark]

Interesting indeed. It would be hard to believe that the FIA would allow RBR to leave just for the want of an engine deal.

Isn't there a case that an engine supplier must be able to supply a certain number of teams if called upon to do so?

[Jag_Warrior]

I thought there was too, Mark. But I'm not sure what that number is, especially since it looks like Lotus/Enstone is going to become the Renault factory team again.

I'm also curious about engine specification rules these days. At one time, I thought that the engine manufacturers were no longer allowed to have different spec engines for different customers, as was common in the past. I can't remember the year (early 90's, I believe) where there were three different specs of a given engine brand on the grid. It seems like it would be impossible to require, say Mercedes, to supply the same spec to every customer and its own team all at once. So we have what we had this weekend. Sauber (and I guess Manor) have also had this situation with the Ferrari engine. Is there a time limit by which they have to have a given spec level available to all the teams they supply?

As for Red Bull... never quit your job until you have a new one lined up. Us workin' folk know that.

[AndyL]

I'm also curious about engine specification rules these days. At one time, I thought that the engine manufacturers were no longer allowed to have different spec engines for different customers, as was common in the past.

Yes that is in the current regulations.

[AndyL]

James Allen seems certain they will go with Ferrari. Dietrich Mateschitz's teams have dealt with Ferrari before of course. Certainly I'd see that as much more likely than Honda. One thing I think we can be certain of is that Red Bull's money won't be ejected from F1 for want of an engine.

[N. Jones]

I can't see Ferrari or Mercedes supplying them with engines. This isn't STR, RB are rivals!

[zako85]

It's hard to believe that either Ferrari or Mercedes could be trusted as impartial engine suppliers. Recall how McLaren got treated by Mercedes in 2014? They restricted access to critical information and McLaren received its engines hour before the practice, and then the engines were taken away after the GP.

[Big Ben]

I'll admit that the situation put a smile on my face . While I can understand their frustration with the Renault engine their attitude has been quite horrible. How was always slapping your engine supplier in public going to make things better? Especially when there aren't that many options out there. And always threatening to quit is so charming too. Ceausescu used to do the same thing, pretending to quit just to have everyone beg him to stay. Great minds think alike, right?

What is an engine partner gaining when partnering with them anyway? There's hardly any visibility for them with this attention wh0re... they come in the spotlight just for the occasional b1tch slapping. The more I think about it, the more I dislike them.

If they leave, good riddance. I won't miss them and F1 needs a shock cause it's really f***ed ** anyway.

[The Black Knight]

James Allen seems certain they will go with Ferrari. Dietrich Mateschitz's teams have dealt with Ferrari before of course. Certainly I'd see that as much more likely than Honda. One thing I think we can be certain of is that Red Bull's money won't be ejected from F1 for want of an engine.

It's possible they may end up with a Ferrari Engine, either Torro Rosso or RBR or both. It's the only viable option I can see for them. I can't see Mercedes supplying them, they would be mad. Anyway, I'd be delighted it RBR f*cked off. I'm so tired of their whinging and they deserve a kick in the rear.