Renault Ready to Power Red Bull F1 From 2022 as an “Obligation”

Renault supplied their engines to Red Bull between the 2007 and 2018 seasons. Despite working together for over 12 years, the relationship ended quite woefully. But now, Cyril Abiteboul reveals that the French manufacturers are ready to supply their engines to their former customers.

While speaking to autosport.com, Renault’s boss opens up that they are yet to hear from Red Bull since Honda’s announcement. “I can confirm there was absolutely no conversation to this point,” Cyril said.

“Being in the sport we are well aware of the regulation, and we have every intent to comply with the regulation and with our obligations.”

Cyril speaks about how approaching a supplier for a Power Unit works in Formula 1. “Obviously it’s a bit more detailed- we need to be requested, and we have not been requested yet. And secondly, there are very specific circumstances, including timing, for this to happen,” Cyril said.

“And we are still far from that window, which is not before the spring of next year.”

“We know that in F1 lots of things can happen in a very limited time amount of time, and spring 2021 is still very far. All sorts of things can happen. As I say we will comply with any obligation which may arise for this circumstance,” Cyril said.

With Mercedes considering Red Bull a threat to their championship, it would be a surprise if the German Manufacturers even consider approaching the team. On the other hand, Ferrari themselves are still recovering from their downfall this season.

Hence, it would only be reasonable if Red Bull opts for Renault despite the distasteful relationship with each other.

How did the Relationship Between Red Bull and Renault End?

Red Bull and Renault together managed to win four world championship titles with Sebastian Vettel. But the problems began in 2018. There were massive reliability issues with Renault’s engines.

The team suffered multiple DNFs throughout the season. Max Verstappen suffered a total of 4 DNFs that season, but one of them was a racing incident where both the drivers from Red Bull crashed into each other at Baku.

While the other Red Bull driver, Daniel Ricciardo, had an unforgettable year with a total of 8 DNFs in 2018.

Considering the terrible performances, Red Bull made its announcement that the team will terminate its relationship with Renault before the French Grand Prix. Eventually, Honda were also chosen as the team’s Power Unit suppliers from the 2019 season and have remained the same since then.