Red Bull awaits the verdict on the Renault affair to make a decision

The Red Bull Racing team is stalled in its engine negotiations and says it is waiting for the verdict of the FIA World Motor Sport Council on the Piquet/Renault case.

The Milton Keynes team hopes to have the Mercedes-Benz engine for the next season, but negotiations are at a standstill since the FIA has not yet granted permission for the German manufacturer to supply another team in addition to McLaren, Brawn GP, and Force India.

Moreover, Mercedes-Benz cannot increase its power unit production without the approval of their partner McLaren. Mercedes-Benz Motorsport director, Norbert Haug, stated last weekend in Monza that the engine plans for 2010 now only required the agreement of McLaren and the FIA.

McLaren and Mercedes-Benz are exclusive partners, said Haug. Without approval, without cooperation …. we are not ready [to announce the plans]. We have not yet decided if we will have another customer team. This must be decided with the FIA as well.

This situation has left Red Bull unable to finalize its plans regarding the engine for next season. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the current partner, Renault, might not be in F1 in 2010.

This uncertainty is a major problem for Red Bull, especially since their ambition now is to compete for titles. The team does not want and cannot be associated, under any circumstances, with a second-tier engine manufacturer, which is why they aim to have either the Renault engine or the Mercedes-Benz engine.

Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, commented that he does not want to worry further about the situation until the World Council has delivered its verdict.