Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRed Bull Racing

Renault: 2014 Red Bull tensions forgotten

Renault director of operations Remi Taffin says tensions between the engine manufacturer and Red Bull in 2014 have been forgotten.

Red Bull was unhappy with the structure at Renault following a disappointing start to last season, with the new power unit proving to be unreliable and uncompetitive. However, with improvement throughout the year and Renault’s focus in 2015 only on Red Bull and Toro Rosso, Taffin says the two sides enjoy a much better working relationship heading in to the new season.

“There were a few tensions because of mixed results and the ensuing frustration,” Taffin told F1i during an exclusive interview. “We had just experienced an amazing period of uninterrupted success and Red Bull expected to carry on the same path. We still managed to win three Grand Prix together, with Daniel Ricciardo, while also showing significant signs of progress throughout the year.

“There were some misunderstandings and communication sometimes was a bit problematic, but it had more to do with politics than anything in the technical field. Trackside teams are well aware that we must push in the same direction instead of blaming each other, which always ends up being counterproductive.

“I can assure you that the relations between all the engineers are good, with everybody sharing the same mindset and willing to move forward.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.