Renault to supply Red Bull and Toro Rosso engines until 2018

2017 season

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Renault announce that they will continue to supply Red Bull Racing with power units for the next two seasons and will rekindle its relationship with Toro Rosso from 2017.

As part of the deal, both Red Bull teams will be permitted to badge their power units however they wish, meaning that Red Bull will continue to use the Tag-Heuer designation for their engines.

Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, says that he is ‘delighted’ to retain Renault as a supplier.

“We are delighted to extend our partnership which has proved very successful over time,” says Horner.

“After the reconstruction that Renault has undertaken, clear progress has been made which has made it logical to continue with the TAG Heuer badged engine.”

The president of Renault Sport Racing, Jerome Stoll, says that Renault are also happy with the new deal.

“We are very pleased to partner with two such strong teams as Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso. Having competitive partners demonstrates the confidence both have in the improved Renault power unit and in our organisation as a whole,” says Stoll.

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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22 comments on “Renault to supply Red Bull and Toro Rosso engines until 2018”

  1. A James Key designed car with a proper engine… STR may well be a contender for podiums next season.

    1. That sounds exactly like the pre-2016 commentary.

      1. If they had put Verstappen on mediums after the red flag in Australia, P2 was on the cards. Lewis couldn’t get by him anyway.

        With every passing race now, a podium is becoming less and less likely for STR because they are the only team with a 2015 engine that is not developing or getting new parts.

  2. mmmm, this new Renault engine must be really good
    I’m not an RB fan, and was tired of their domination, but it is the only team that can take the fight to Mercedes, so this is goods news.

    1. what do you mean? Ron Dennis promised that McLaren was the team to count on…

      1. Yes, the McLaren chassis is better than the Ferrari one, haven’t you been paying attention?

        /s

      2. If only McLaren could power their car with all the hot air they produce :-D

    2. You should wait for next year: Marchionne promised they’ll be the team to count on…

  3. I wonder if STR can shift from Ferrari power to Renault in the middle of the season?

  4. I hate how Red Bull want it to be branded as a TAG Heuer engine, even though they have absolutely nothing to do with the production of the engine itself. Renault deserve the credit for the big improvements of this engine, and should be advertised on the engine cover. Just shows how ruthless Red Bull is.

    1. You’re right but don’t feel bad for Renault, they’re a massive corporation, not some guy working in a shed

    2. At least people know now that Renault has built a decent engine. Something that is not apparent from their own team. When they won with the infinity engine, they gladly used it in their commercials, so i don’t think it’s a big deal with Renault marketing wise. Besides, most people know it anyway.

    3. RedBull are the ones that bought Mario Illien and his company to work on the engine for Renault. they wanted him working last year, and Renault chose to go their own way and didn’t improve over 2014, now having accepted Red Bulls help in developing the engine they have finally improved – so maybe it shouldn’t be called a Renault at all as it needed outsourced help to make it work better.

      1. kpcart, by that logic, would you then not call Ferrari’s engine a Ferrari unit given they outsourced a substantial chunk of their engine program out to AVL in 2015? Or would you say that the Mercedes power unit can’t be called a Mercedes unit because part of the development work on the hybrid unit was subcontracted out to Zytek?

        All of the manufacturers have outsourced at least part of their development work to external companies in order to maximise their performance, so I don’t see why you should be complaining about Renault doing that.

        1. I think he has some grief toward Renault.

        2. +1 and the same can be said about chassis.

    4. Fudge Ahmed (@)
      2nd June 2016, 15:32

      Agree. While I think the TAG branding is inherently cynical and misleading (why not just brand it as Ilmore if RB made that outsourcing happen?) you do have to admire Red Bull for having their cake, eating it and basically writing off the cost of the engine through a branding exercise! Especially if they have also renegotiated upgrade parity with the works team again… Do we know if they have managed that?

  5. Andy (@andybantam)
    29th May 2016, 11:21

    Wow. Red Bull change their tune more often than a cheap guitar.

    Every time Horner or DM talk now, all I hear is “bla bla bla bla”…

    I guess this also buries any Alfa Romeo return rumours.

    1. Alfa Romeo would have returned only as a name, and not built anything anyway. I don’t know why anyone wants Alfa in F1, id rather have Red Bull in the sport – they are bringing in the driver talent and engineering development in the sport.

      1. Justin (@vivagilles27)
        30th May 2016, 2:26

        The boys at Fiat and Ferrari said if Alpha were to return it would be from the ground up, although I would be willing to bet it would be a similar deal to Haas…..

  6. Mark in Florida
    30th May 2016, 2:26

    Christian Horner is a two faced jackass. One minute he’s braying about how bad life is because they are using Renault engines and he wants something else. Now he’s braying about how good the TAG engine is. Personally I can’t stand RB. I don’t like how they do business. How they treat suppliers and how they endlessly whine when they don’t win. I hope Daniel goes to Mercedes and Rosberg to Ferrari.

  7. Justin (@vivagilles27)
    30th May 2016, 2:28

    What a difference a year makes. For sure, no one will ever take a Red Bull “we may just quit the sport” threat seriously ever again.

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