Renault sees Red Bull split as 'natural evolution'

Renault rear wing and diffuser. 08.03.2018.

Renault Sport Racing has issued a carefully worded statement saying that it 'acknowledges' today's announcement from Red Bull about 2019 engines.

Red Bull announced on Tuesday that it was ending its current engine supply arrangement at the end of the current season. The team has opted instead for a two-year deal with Honda, which already supplies the junior Toro Rosso team.

It's the end of a 12-year partnership between Red Bull and Renault. However the French manufacturer said that today's news was a natural progression given that the two companies have been increasingly at odds in recent years.

"Renault Sport Racing acknowledges the Red Bull Racing and Honda partnership announcement," read today's brief statement from the company.

"Two years after Renault’s return as a works team, we consider this is a natural evolution for both Renault and Red Bull Racing in view of their respective aspirations.

"In an extremely demanding and competitive environment we are proud of the extraordinary results achieved with Red Bull Racing over the past 12 seasons," the statement continued.

"In particular, the four Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships and 57 wins we have taken together.

Red Bull officially confirms switch to Honda in 2019

Renault said that its factory team would now be its focus, together with its remaining customer team arrangment with McLaren that began at the end of 2017.

"After two seasons, we are fully focused on the strong progression of Renault Sport Formula One Team, while continuing to foster the fresh relationship with McLaren Racing."

In a separate statment from Red Bull, team principal Christian Horner thanked Renault for their work over the last decade.

"We have sometimes had our differences but Renault has always worked tirelessly and to the best of its ability to provide us with a competitive power unit.

"That is still the case today and we would like to thank the Renault team, and particularly the guys in our garage at every race, for their unstinting commitment.

"We look forward to ending our partnership on a high come the end of this season," he said, adding: "We wish Renault Sport all the best for the future."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

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.