Red Bull to decide on engine supplier at 'end of the summer'

  • Published on 12 Mar 2018 10:04
  • comments 10
  • By: Rob Veenstra

Christian Horner has hit back at Renault's imposition of a May deadline to decide its engine supplier for 2019. It is no secret that Red Bull installed Honda as Toro Rosso's engine supplier this year in order to open the door to a potential deal for the main team in 2019.

Currently, Red Bull uses a customer Renault engine, but Horner thinks the French marque is hitting a performance limit with its current power unit. And relations between the two sides are strained. "We will have to see how it goes this year, but whenever we have a power deficit, we have to try to compensate with the car," Red Bull boss Horner told El Confidencial.

It is suggested that Renault may advise its teams to ignore the new three engines per driver rule this year in order to maximise engine developments. Horner said: "It will be interesting to see who uses only three, but even if the regulations were more lax, the order of performance would not change. The problem is that this generation of engine regulations is not as good for Renault as it has been for Mercedes and Ferrari," he insisted.

Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul recently said Red Bull will have to decide between Renault and Honda for 2019 by May of this year. But Horner says that deadline is wrong. "What we understand is that May is when you have to give an indication to the FIA, but that does not mean a commitment," he said. "It will be decided at the end of the summer. That's the realistic timing of when the decisions have to be made."

So far, the frontrunner may actually be Honda, after a surprisingly strong pre-season for the Japanese manufacturer with Toro Rosso. "Honda has had a fantastic start with Toro Rosso," agreed Horner. "Obviously, we're in a good position to keep an eye on their progress in the first half of the year. We're going to follow it with great interest," he added.

And Red Bull, honey, its not up to you to decide when really. Renault has a date for you, decide before that or they will decide for you.

  • 1
  • Mar 12 2018 - 14:03

Replies (10)

Login to reply
  • Maclaren could improve, Renault doesnt need the RB benchmark.

    • + 0
    • Mar 12 2018 - 12:13
    • They could, and most likely will, but Renault will lose precious cash from TAG. I dont really think Renault will cry over Red Bull leaving though, more than anything they seem to be the physical incarnation of video game publisher's relationship with Gamespot: two entities trying to work together with one hand while trying to kill the other entity with the other.

      • + 0
      • Mar 12 2018 - 21:09
  • Lets not get ahead of ouselves here. Im as happy over the good testing as any overly attached Hondafriend, but we dont know how well it translates to the races.

    • + 0
    • Mar 12 2018 - 14:01
    • And Red Bull, honey, its not up to you to decide when really. Renault has a date for you, decide before that or they will decide for you.

      • + 1
      • Mar 12 2018 - 14:03
  • I'm frankly surprised by how much Renault is underestimated. It's not like they haven't won most championships in the last 13 years. They had a slump, but they have very consistently been making improvements for a few years now. They are in it for the long term. I'm tipping Renault to be the biggest surprise this years. I'm expecting some odd podiums.

    • + 0
    • Mar 12 2018 - 20:50
    • Lets be real here: yes, they had a really good roll, but their wins with Red Bull wasnt thanks to Renault, and if we arent going to give Honda some slack, neither should we with Renault. Already during the Vettel dominance, Renault had slumped behind their competitors in numbers, if perhaps nowhere near as bad as they are now. But since 2014, and that was with decent amount of development time behind them, they have failed at catching up. And looking at their latest two seasons, their unwillingness to upgrade their units post midseason is alarming, especially for their customers with no power over the development, and them undersupplying STR with spares, if that wasnt intentional its incompetent. I think Works Renault will jump to fourth, but thats not really a surprise. Its a combination of decent funds, along with the power of a works team. Mind, I do like their far more careful attitude, more teams need to do that instead of going in "guns blazing".

      • + 0
      • Mar 12 2018 - 21:07
    • I remember Cyril back in 2015 I think... talking about a 5 year plan. They definitely failed to keep up when the hybrid units were introduced. Regarding Red Bull's dominance, I think you're seriously understating Renault's PU. You can't win 4 consecutive championships in dominant fashion without a top PU. Conversely, you can't win championships (or even win races) simply by having the absolute best PU. Think of all the cars with Mercedes engines the last 4 years that haven't even made it to the podium.

      • + 0
      • Mar 13 2018 - 02:20
    • Yeah, and they still sorta do. They come out of winter testing pretty okay, but they just dont build on it enough. Remember the leap they did in 2016? Remember what could've been, had they kept it up, instead of going "LoL, no, we aint releasing nothing after this". Its the exact opposite with Honda: they enter a season weak, but build on it continuously during the season. Imagine the two together...

      As for the notion that you need the best PU to win a title... No. Remember, things were much closer back then. That margin was close enough so that a good chassis can make a team competitive. Remember the speed traps RB set last year in Baku compared to the other Renault teams. Imagine that, but with a more competitive unit. The Renault unit didnt hinder RB as much as it has done during the hybrid era, but it wasnt what made Red Bull a winner.

      As for the last bit... Actually, look at Williams and Force India. Williams didnt do a too bad job during their first Merc' years, and Force India has certainly not suffered from being Merc' powered. The difference there, I'd say, is the fact that they are mere customers.

      • + 0
      • Mar 13 2018 - 08:51
  • Sirhenry

    Posts: 759

    Renault has proven to be an unrelaible partner. They promise a lot but deliver half. Just as now they have the 2016 ERS on the engine...They fucked op Toro Rosso’s engines in the last part of 2017 so they can finish in fornt of TR, earning millions....Renault just suck...

    • + 0
    • Mar 13 2018 - 13:51
    • If that move against STR wasnt intentional, it was incompetent. Foul taste either way.

      • + 0
      • Mar 13 2018 - 15:59

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2024

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
29 - Mar 2
Bahrain
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia
22 - Mar 24
Australia
5 - Apr 7
Japan
19 - Apr 21
China
3 - May 5
United States of America
17 - May 19
Italy
24 - May 26
Monaco
7 - Jun 9
Canada
21 - Jun 23
Spain
28 - Jun 30
Austria
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom
19 - Jul 21
Hungary
26 - Jul 28
Belgium
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands
30 - Sep 1
Italy
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan
20 - Sep 22
Singapore
18 - Oct 20
United States of America
25 - Oct 27
Mexico
1 - Nov 3
Brazil
22 - Nov 24
United States of America
29 - Dec 1
Qatar
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
29 - Mar 2
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24
Australia Albert Park
5 - Apr 7
19 - Apr 21
3 - May 5
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
17 - May 19
24 - May 26
Monaco Monte Carlo
7 - Jun 9
21 - Jun 23
28 - Jun 30
Austria Red Bull Ring
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom Silverstone
19 - Jul 21
Hungary Hungaroring
26 - Jul 28
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
30 - Sep 1
Italy Monza
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
20 - Sep 22
18 - Oct 20
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
25 - Oct 27
1 - Nov 3
Brazil Interlagos
22 - Nov 24
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
29 - Dec 1
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar