Following the Australian Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing made a threat to quit Formula One.
It followed a disappointing season in 2014, which despite three Grand Prix victories, saw their four year dominance ended by Mercedes.
The Red Bull era was ended by regulation changes. The introduction of the new v6 turbo-hybrid power-units saw Red Bull Racing left behind due to Renault being soundly beaten by the development of Mercedes.
With those regulations remaining in place for 2015, Red Bull Racing and Renault knew they would be playing catch-up.
The problem for them was that Mercedes and Ferrari have both improved from their 2014 levels.
The new Mercedes AMG power-unit has a higher performance level, creates more horse power and if testing is anything to go by could be more reliable.
Ferrari have also taken major gains forward, the Italian side buoyed by Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were the best of the rest in Australia and won in Malaysia.
This has left Red Bull frustrated, to the point that Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz’s advisor Helmut Marko suggested that Red Bull could quit Formula One as Mateschitz grows disillusioned with the sport following the end of the teams dominance.
‘We will evaluate the situation again [in the summer] as every year and look into costs and revenues, If we are totally dissatisfied we could contemplate an F1 exit. The danger is there that Mr Mateschitz loses his passion for F1.’ Marko told Sky Sports.
‘These power units are the wrong solution for F1, and we would say this even if Renault were in the lead, A designer like Adrian Newey is castrated by this engine formula. These rules will kill the sport.’
This left Renault also contemplating their future in Formula One.
Renault have numerous Formula One titles to their name, they’ve won both the drivers and constructors championships as an engine supplier for Williams, Benetton and Red Bull Racing in the past and have also won both titles twice as a manufacturer in their own right.
Overall they have powered 11 Formula One World Champions to the title and taken 12 constructors titles, with over 160 Grand Prix wins making them one of the most successful engine suppliers in the history of Formula One.
The last thing the French manufacturers want is their reputation smeared by their closest partner in Formula One.
‘We are looking at a lot of options, including getting out of Formula 1 if it’s bad for Renault’s reputation,’ Managing Director of Renault Sport F1 Cyril Abiteboul said prior to the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Clearly Red Bull and Renault had to improve their lines of communication and since then, there appears to have been an improvement.
Red Bull have suggested greater branding for Renault on the sister teams car of Toro Rosso, whilst there has also been talk of Renault buying the team.
But in the immediate future, there now appears to be a desire to push forward.
‘There are a lot of talented people in Viry [Renault headquarters]], They have a great heritage and they are better than what we are seeing. It’s a question of how you respond to the situation you’re in.’ Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told the BBC.
‘It’s a long season but hopefully at the end we will look back and say this is a low point but we recovered that situation,’
While Abiteboul added: ‘There is no issue with Red Bull, in the sense that they are a team that wants to be extremely successful. They are impatient to be back in a winning position, as we were two years ago.
‘So we understand that, and their frustration. We are a supplier but we are also racers and also extremely frustrated.
‘It is about supporting each other, not dragging each other down, but we want to deal with it together.’
Renault have no problem with Red Bull
