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Renault imposes deadline for Red Bull-Honda engine call

Published on 28 Feb 2018 07:53
12
By: Fergal Walsh

Renault Formula 1 boss Cyril Abiteboul imposes a May deadline for Red Bull to decide over its 2019 engine supplier. Red Bull's contract with Renault ends at the end of the 2018 season and the team is keeping the options open for the next season.

"All things are open for 2019 onwards. We will pay close attention to how things develop at Toro Rosso, but there are no preconceptions as we head into the season." Chris Horner told Autosport. However, if Red Bull opts to switch for 2019 to Honda, McLaren will remain the sole customer of Renault.

Renault is not accepting Red Bull's statement and wants the Austrian team to comply with Appendix 9 of the FIA's F1 Sporting Regulations.: "We are not going to hang around forever," Abiteboul told Autosport. "I know what Christian is referring to when he says that he has options. There is one thing that is clear, and that is planning, and there will be a deadline for Red Bull Racing to define what they want for the future. It's available, it's in the sporting regulations.

Abiteboul emphasised that Red Bull only has to announce their intentions by that date, not to finalise the details of the new contract. When asked about the financial impact of a possible split with Red Bull and the probability to remain with a single customer, Abiteboul added: "We have always said that being an engine supplier is a very bad business."

Paul Athes

Barron

Posts: 625

Yes, I thought so too but the many McLaren haters put that simply down to tyres.. Which is a bit weird because everyone has access to the same ones. Anyway, tyre denomination has got weirder this year. Why couldn’t they just have stuck with Hard, Medium, Soft, Intermediate, Rain?

1
Feb 28 2018 - 13:25

F1 News McLaren Red Bull Racing Renault Honda

Replies (12)

mclarenfan1968

Posts: 1,027
It's high time to tell RB to get in line or phuc off. Renault needs to get tough like this and more. Whiny Horny man always has something to whinge about the engines even when the engine is affording them some wins.
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- Feb 28 2018 - 08:00
Smiler121

Posts: 53
Not sure Mercedes are convinced that being an engine supplier is bad business?
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- Feb 28 2018 - 08:37
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Generally speaking, if you manage your cards well it isnt. Unless you are spending huge sums, you should be able to benefit from having more customer teams, since it means that you've not just developed for your own use. And having customer teams can be very beneficial, in more ways than just the financial: you will be able to collect data on multiple teams, thus its far easier to find and iron out various issues, and you also get more info about driveability. No simulation in the world can compare to that kind of data.
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  Feb 28 2018 - 18:45
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Seeing as the deadline is where FIA need to know which teams they will supply, fair enough. I wonder what they will choose.
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- Feb 28 2018 - 09:37
Barron

Posts: 625
It makes a change Red Bull on the receiving end. They should have thought of all this before they tried to throw Renault under the bus. Admittedly Renault did get a lot wrong, but they got their heads down and have produced a PU that gets better race by race. I think Red Bull will want to stay with Renault power, which means that Honda May be out of F1 at the end of 2018 unless they work miracles as I cannot see them continuing in solely a ‘B’ team.
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- Feb 28 2018 - 10:24
reg

Posts: 162
Methinks that the promise already shown by McLaren this year has demonstrated to Renault that although good, the RB is not quite as special as everyone thought! Only a few laps yesterday and Vandoorne was 3rd fastest - very interesting indeed!
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- Feb 28 2018 - 13:12
- Barron
  
  Posts: 625
  Yes, I thought so too but the many McLaren haters put that simply down to tyres.. Which is a bit weird because everyone has access to the same ones. Anyway, tyre denomination has got weirder this year. Why couldn’t they just have stuck with Hard, Medium, Soft, Intermediate, Rain?
  + 1
  
  Feb 28 2018 - 13:25
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  We havent really seen anything yet. Its too close to call if McLaren will do well or not.
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  Feb 28 2018 - 16:57
- Bhurt
  
  Posts: 320
  McLaren blamed their lack of laps last year on Honda. They don't have Honda this year and they've done fewer laps than all other teams, half as many as most teams.
  
  Oh and they haven't had a full day of reliability yet.
  
  The only thing McLaren has proved so far is that without Honda, they're still the same McLaren we've seen the past three years.
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  Feb 28 2018 - 17:59
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Last year there was little doubt that Honda did cause lots of the complications. McLaren could very well have caused some aswell, but I think its safe to say that Honda were to blame then. This year: its either Renault or McLaren. Red Bull had a different issue yesterday to what McLaren had (fuel pump), but either issue isnt exactly rare during testing. I dont think they are representative of what Renault power will deliver this year. But I hope Honda power will be better.
  
  I too think this is the same McLaren we've seen a few years now, a Williams 2.0, if you will, but who knows? I hope for a situation where both benefitted from the breakup.
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  Feb 28 2018 - 18:31
reg

Posts: 162
From what I read the Super Soft and Hyper Soft that McLaren ran are actually the slower selection in the very cold weather they are having, its very difficult to get heat into them. So as getting heat into tyres has been a McLaren problem for years ( Mr Button waxed lyrical on the subject endlessly), I suspect McLaren have been working hard on this and appear to have resolved it at last - fingers crossed - this year's car certainly looks fabulously sleek, clean and simply fast - to my eyes anyway!
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- Feb 28 2018 - 14:03
- Barron
  
  Posts: 625
  That’s positive talking, I like it. Based on your optimism, I have put a £5,000 bet on McKaren winning both titles this year. Just kidding but next to Kimi fans, McLaren ‘followers’ are the most long suffering and we tend to seize on any nugget of good news..
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  Feb 28 2018 - 15:38