Red Bull looking for new engine supplier (Update)
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| Are Red Bull eyeing new engines from Cosworth? |
(GMM) Red Bull and Renault have denied rumors the reigning world champions could split.
Together, after Sebastian Vettel won the last nine grands prix of 2013, Red Bull and Renault are now embroiled in a technical crisis after the new V6 'power unit' struggled to merely run in the rear of Adrian Newey's RB10.
It has triggered rumors Red Bull is on the lookout for a new engine supplier.
Reports have emerged that Cosworth, without a customer for the 2014 season, has nonetheless completed its turbo V6 design that will not be raced this year.
The wilder rumors indicate Red Bull could take over the project and run its own engines for 2015.
When asked about the split rumors, Renault Sport's Remi Taffin told Sport Bild: "I know nothing about that.
"We are currently working very closely with Red Bull, and several teams of (Red Bull) engineers are even at our base in Viry and working on the integration of the power unit and chassis."
Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko also told the German publication: "We have a long term contract with Renault, which is of course linked with our results on the track.
"Nevertheless, we are not going to panic and are making a joint effort to solve the problems."
World champion Vettel also sounded calm about the current situation, whilst admitting he hopes to finally get up to speed this week in Bahrain.
"Of course the Jerez test did not go the way we wanted," he said. "Other teams did a lot more kilometers and that was important because we are talking about completely new technology.
"But it's better to have the problems in testing than at the races.
"Hopefully the situation in Bahrain will already be better, and I'll have a car not only that goes around the track, but that I can use at full throttle."
02/14/14 (GMM) World champions Red Bull could be on the market for a new engine supplier.
That is the belief of ex F1 team owner and boss Gian Carlo Minardi, whose former Faenza based team, now called Toro Rosso, is owned by the energy drink company.
Out of troubled engine supplier Renault's four F1 partners, including Toro Rosso, the senior Red Bull team managed the least mileage of all at the recent Jerez test.
Minardi, however, observed that – officially – the Red Bull-owned teams are sending out messages of "tranquility and calm" about what many others believe is a crisis.
"According to circulating information, the situation seems more difficult than that and not easy to solve," the 66-year-old wrote in a posting in Italian on his website.
"It seems that Red Bull are exploring a possible change of engine for 2015," added Minardi.
He said he has also heard that Renault, struggling to solve the obvious problems with its turbo V6 'power unit', has gone beyond the walls of its Viry factory and is now "shopping" around for technical fixes.
"That has practically never happened before as, quite rightly, Renault has always sought to preserve its technology," said Minardi.
"This news can only feed suspicions of structural problems in the engine that are not easy to solve in the short term.
"Obviously, I hope to be proved wrong as soon as the testing in Bahrain, but undoubtedly we are living through a chaotic time in formula one," he added.