Red Bull: The reliability and performance of the Renault engine are “unacceptable”

The Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix was supposed to be a grand celebration for Red Bull. It indeed marked the return to the Spielberg track, now named the Red Bull Ring after its purchase by Dietrich Mateschitz, founder of the energy drink giant.

However, instead of the taurine-boosted drink, the race turned sour for the Milton Keynes team, which quickly lost any chance to perform well with Sebastian Vettel—victim of an electronic problem—and had to settle for 8th place, narrowly secured by Daniel Ricciardo, despite being the winner in Canada. Additionally, the brand’s junior team, Toro Rosso, saw both of its cars retire.

For Christian Horner, this race is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. The Red Bull Racing director takes aim at their engine supplier, Renault: « It is frustrating to be in the situation we are in. We have obviously had a lot of success with Renault. We won all those races and all those championships with Renault power. But the situation is not acceptable at the moment. »

The incident experienced by Sebastian Vettel in the early laps of the race added to the long list of reliability issues encountered by Red Bull and Renault since the start of the season, including the lack of top speed: « The reliability is unacceptable. The performance is unacceptable, » states Horner to Autosport, before warning: « There needs to be change at Renault. It can’t continue like this. It’s not good for Renault and it’s not good for Red Bull. »

Changes? Something has to happen because whatever is happening over there, at the moment, it’s not working. It’s not our business, it’s not our responsibility. We are the end user and it’s just frustrating that it’s not where it should be right now.

The Briton reaffirms the contractual link that unites the two companies but advocates a return to competitiveness: « We must work together as partners. There will be no other engine at the back of our car next year, but we want to be competitive and we want to be at the front. »

On the side of Renault Sport F1, Rob White, the deputy director, joins Christian Horner and laments this situation: « The anxiety that Christian feels and the frustration he experiences after a result that does not represent the full performance potential of the car and the power unit is completely understandable and we share it. »

However, he highlights the work already done to get back in the race: « But we are fully committed to making progress as quickly as possible, and I think we have shown signs of improvement before today and we remain confident in Red Bull’s and Christian’s level of expectation. »

« We know what is expected of us and, both individually and collectively, we must strive to go in the right direction. It is a process that is completely shared with Red Bull, and the goals are known and understood, » he concluded.