Car manufacturer Renault will stop supplying engines to other Formula 1 teams after its contractual obligations end this year, Carlos Ghosn, Renault’s chairman and chief executive officer, said. (Force India drivers term Singapore GP most challenging)
Ghosn indicated that the company’s relationship with team Red Bull is likely to end this year. “We have already alerted the F1 authorities and told them: ‘Don’t count on us as a provider of an engine – it’s over,” Ghosn was quoted as saying by bbc.co.uk on Tuesday. (Lewis Hamilton sets New York Fashion Show on fire)
Renault is in the process of trying to negotiate a takeover of the Lotus team. But Ghosn said there was still a possibility the company could walk away from F1. “Our future is the subject of detailed analysis and re-negotiating. We will either exit or run our own team. We don’t have a clear decision yet,” he said.
Renault has an engine supply contract with Red Bull until 2016. Ghosn said Renault would “honour our contracts” but admitted the company was re-negotiating “so it’s too early to say what’s going to be the conclusion”.
“Red Bull’s treatment of Renault during the previous six years had been instrumental in the company’s decision,” he said. The pairing won four consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ world titles from 2010-13, but Red Bull have been heavily critical of Renault since 2014.