Red Bull are waiting on Renault to make a decision about their future in Formula 1 from 2016 onwards.
The Red Bull and Renault partnership beyond 2016 has been in serious doubt for some time, with the former world champions having frequently fired criticism at Renault due to the performance and reliability of their power unit this season.
Renault has been weighing up its options in the sport also, with the French manufacturer being linked to a takeover of Toro Rosso and more recently the Lotus team.
Despite Red Bull team boss Christian Horner implying there was a possibility of the Milton Keynes outfit cutting their ties a year before their contract expires as per speculation of performance clauses existing in the contract, and the links of Renault buying a majority stake in the Lotus team growing stronger. Horner himself has come out and said the team’s own plans is dependent on Renault’s actions.
“The bigger question is what are Renault’s plans for the future – and hopefully that will be forthcoming in the next few weeks,” said Horner in an interview with Sky Sports
“That [Red Bull’s plans] depends on Renault. We have an agreement with Renault until the end of 2016 and anything more than that is speculative.”
“Our aim is to be as competitive as we can as quickly as we can and first of all we want to understand what the situation is with Renault and what commitment they have to reducing the deficit.
Red Bull are contracted to use Renault power units until the end of next year, although Horner suggests there needs to be more investment in Renault’s resources for F1 to be able to honour the agreement fully.
“We have a contract with Renault and there are obligations on both parties,” he added
“It needs a root-and-branch review. There are some very capable people at Renault but it feels under-resourced. There is no silver bullet – it is probably an element of everything: equipment, personnel, and obviously finance is required for that.”
