Formula One: Renault terminates Red Bull engine supply after 2018

Renault has decided to no longer supply engines to Red Bull Racing after the 2018 Formula One season following complaints about their performances this season.

In a not so surprising move, Renault announced Thursday that they will no longer be supplying Red Bull Racing their custom engines after the 2018 Formula One season.

For the last couple of seasons, the brand new Hybrid engines that Renault built were very uncompetitive against the newer and quicker Mercedes power plants, and in the opening season with the engines in 2014, there were many malfunctions that made team manager Christian Horner furious against the French company, causing Red Bull to either pull out of the deal or Formula One altogether.

Daniel Ricciardo did win three races that opening year with the newer engines, but the rest of the time, MGU failures caused many non-finishes. Red Bull themselves wanted to find another engine supplier, but could come to terms with any other company. However, finally during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend in 2016, both parties decided to continue their deal on a two-year contract, but this time, without the Renault name on the engine, being substituted by the Swiss Tag Heuer brand label, a watch company from Switzerland.

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But the tension has returned, even with Ricciardo’s win in Azerbaijan, as it did not help things in the long run. Finally, after hearing all the problems and complaints by Horner and the Red Bull Racing team altogether, Renault decided to make the first move and not renew the contract past the end of next season.

This might have contributed to the recent deal that will be officially launched this weekend at the Grand Prix of Singapore, where McLaren will be supplied Renault engines in a bid to try to keep Fernando Alonso for a few more seasons, which looks like it’s set to happen. Renault took Carlos Sainz Jr. for next season, and McLaren will end their Honda engine deal at the end of this season.

Red Bull’s sister team, Toro Rosso, will end the Renault deal at the end of this season and take McLaren’s Honda engine supply. Should Toro Rosso move up the grid with a better Japanese engine, then it will be no surprise if Red Bull uses Honda power starting in the 2019 season.

Ricciardo and his Dutch teammate Max Verstappen have the option to look elsewhere after 2019, and if the Honda engine does not pass their standards, then it might be possible that both could go to another team. Red Bull could also leave the sport and could find a new buyer in 2020, which could allow teams like Audi and Porsche to join Formula One with Horner in charge.

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