Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRed Bull Racing

Red Bull may be mulling shock split with Renault

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The Red Bull-Renault partnership has been slowly but surely dissolving this year following a miserable lack of results which Red Bull management has clearly pinned on the French manufacturer's weak and unreliable power unit.

The undermined relationship between the former world champions has prompted speculation that the Milton Keynes outfit may be on the verge of splitting with its partner and seeking in the future an allocation of engines from Ferrari , which actually supplied Red Bull in 2006. While both firms are contracted for the 2016 season, it is believed that Renault could accept a premature split with Red Bull should the French marque decide to pursue its own ambitions in F1 as a full works team.

Germany's Sport Bild claims Ferrari would indeed be open to providing both Red Bull and its junior team Toro Rosso with Maranello power, although any eventual supply agreement would clearly imply a customer status and therefore lower specification power units for both outfits. “A 'B' version of the Ferrari engine is still more powerful than Renault’s A version,” Red Bull's Helmut Marko is reported as saying in Sport Bild.

Red Bull founder, Dietrich Mateschitz, has allegedly played down the claims, although the financial impact on the team induced by the lack of results would surely justify a review of the Red Bull and Renault's partnership. According to Bild, a crisis meeting between the two firms is scheduled for June 25.

"We will get the results from Renault's latest tests and explain how they see the future," Marko added. "And then we will decide how we deal with it. Our relationship with Renault is, to say the least, very tense."

While Red Bull lays the blame of its underperformance this year at the feet of its French engine partner, it has also been outrun on occasion by Toro Rosso, which has done a far better job than the senior outfit in spite of lesser resources and identical power units. A state of affairs which suggests that Red Bull's troubles may not be entirely attributable to Renault.

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.