Former quadruple F1 World Champion Alain Prost believes the Spanish Grand Prix offered ample evidence that Red Bull's woes this season should not be pinned exclusively on the team's Renault power plant.
Both Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat were both beaten in qualifying in Barcelona by Toro Rosso juniors Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen, a fact which demonstrates that the qualities of the team's RB11 chassis may also be called into question.
"Let's not forget that a car's performance is not dependent only on the engine, but also on the chassis, " commented the Frenchman and Renault ambassador. "It's not a black and white situation, like Toro Rosso, which is using the same engine, shows us."
Prost doubted that Renault's brand image had suffered as a consequence of its ongoing difficulties to master F1's current hybrid power plant technology.
"It's obviously not positive but I don't believe it has a negative bearing on the Renault brand. We must be aware that these things happen in motor racing; you can be dominant and then lose your edge. One must accept this. There were perhaps more problems than imagined, but the rule changes were massive at a time when Renault and Red Bull also had their fight for the championship to deal with."
Click here for an exclusive interview with Jenson Button about the McLaren-Honda project
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are unlikely to challenge for victory…
Automotive giant General Motors is reportedly back in the game as a potential entrant in…
The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…
Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…
It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…
Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…