Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRed Bull Racing

Red Bull ‘must stay’ in F1 - Lauda

40

Niki Lauda says Red Bull “must stay” in Formula One as uncertainty over its future in the sport intensifies.

Following numerous quit threats, Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz said ahead of the Russian Grand Prix weekend he will have to make a final decision by the end of October. Red Bull is unhappy at its inability to receive a competitive power unit, having terminated its Renault contract a year early and been turned down by Mercedes.

While Ferrari may still provide Red Bull with engines, Lauda - who often spends time with Christian Horner and Helmut Marko - admits he is unsure what the solution is for the team.

“I’ve no idea what they do,” Lauda told F1i. “They should stay, the most important thing is they must stay.”

Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat believes recent results - including his fifth place in Russia - show team owner Dietrich Mateschitz the potential for the team to win again with the right equipment remains strong.

“I hope that we are showing that probably with not the most competitive power unit we are still squeezing out some good points almost every race,” Kvyat said. “We are fighting, we are showing good pace and we are just missing something little. Red Bull’s style is to win championships and I’m sure we will soon be back to that path.”

Click here for a lighter look at some of the scenes from the Russian Grand Prix

Click here for the F1 drivers' girlfriends gallery

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.