Red Bull seeking ways to compensate for engine deficit

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Team principal Christian Horner insists that Red Bull Racing is working hard in all areas to overcome a lack of engine power in 2017.

The team is running a TAG Heuer-badged Renault power unit that is no match for that of their main rivals Ferrari and Mercedes.

Renault have said there are unlikely to be be major upgrades in 2017. Even so, Horner says that the team is looking into other ways of achieving the performance boost they need to be competitive.

"You always try in all areas," Horner said. "We are always pushing hard and it is good to see that the last three races showed good progress.

"You deal with the hand that you've got and we will keep on pushing the best we can.

"We will probably introduce our next engine in Austria," he continued "Hopefully that will be a bit of a boost as our fuel supplier ExxonMobil did a great job finding performance. In this area there is quite a bit of potential.

"All departments are always evolving. We do have a strong aero team, so we are never short of excellent talents."

No way out of watertight contracts for Red Bull drivers

Horner tried not to show his disappointment at the news that Renault weren't expecting any big upgrades in 2017.

"Nothing surprises me these days," he said when asked whether the news had caught him off-guard.

"This is Renault's decision. We take whatever we can, when we can - for sure we'd rather sooner than later.

"I don't believe that Renault has given up on this year," he added. "That's what they have told us. So, we're pushing.

"As I just said, we are very confident our new partner ExxonMobil will help in performance from that side.

"The last three races have been promising, so let's see what Baku holds for us."

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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.