F1 | Red Bull towards a biennial renewal with Renault?

After its first seasonal win with the young Max Verstappen at the Spanish Circuit of Barcelona, Red Bull would have closed an agreement with Renault for the Power-Unit supply for the next two years.

After last year’s soap-opera, and after risking to have no power unit for 2016 due to the Frenchs’ marching orders with the refusal of Mercedes and Ferrari (a circumstance that ended into a renewal with Renault under the TAG Heuer brand for a single season), Milton Keynes’s team had started a negotiation with BMW that was deeply interested in a comeback into Formula1.

The uncertainty that still today lingers around to 2017’s regulations has brought the cooperation to an impasse, shifting the balance towards a continuity in the relationship with the French brand for the next two seasons. “BMW would have decided to give up its comeback into the Circus, given the uncertainty on the next regulations. Thus, Red Bull would have already renewed its cooperation with Renault for 2017’s and 2018’s seasons, also due to the good results obtained and to the new team policy”, Gian Carlo Minardi says.“The question on the future remains at Toro Rosso: they have to decide if continue with Ferrari, move to Renault, or, if regulation gets clear, aim for something more resounding” the manager from Faenza concludes.

At the end of two days of testing at Montmelò, the drivers of Red Bull and of Renault were positively affected by the new power-unit brought to the track by by Trans-alpines.