As we get closer and closer to the end of the 2015 season, Red Bull’s threats loom overhead. The Austrian team has threatened to pull out of Formula One at the end of the season if they cannot get a new engine for 2016. The team’s options have crumbled around them and it seems that they have no other options left.
Despite coming from winning four consecutive World Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships, the Red Bull team still insists that they will call it quits at the end of the season. Their Renault engine is under performing and they are in the search for a new manufacturer, despite having another season remaining in their contract with the French engine supplier.
Honda has already stated that they are not quite ready to begin supplying engines to customer teams, due to the lack of performance in their own engines. Mercedes have turned down Red Bull’s request, as it would be foolish for them to supply the competition with engines. Ferrari is the only engine supplier that has made an offer… sort of.
The Italian company told Red Bull that they would be willing to supply them with the previous season’s engine. Not only is this an insult to Red Bull, but it is not even allowed according to the changes to the 2016 FIA Sporting Regulations.
According to article 23.5 of the 2016 F1 Sporting Regulations, published on October 13: “Only power units which are identical to the power unit that has been homologated by the FIA in accordance with Appendix 4 of these regulations may be used at an Event during the 2016-2020 Championship seasons.”
This means that Ferrari would not be allowed to supply Red Bull with a previous season’s engine and that Red Bull’s only option (however silly it may be) is gone. This makes a Red Bull exit much more likely, along with their sister team, Toro Rosso. The only options on the table at the moment would be packing their bags to living out their 2016 contract with their current supplier.
What will Red Bull do? Well, they have threatened to quit last season and that obviously didn’t go as planned. In addition, an exit would cost the team a ton of money due to a contract that they signed when they came into Formula One, stating that they will be in the sport until 2020. With this contract, the team gets a large sum of bonus money, so they would be obligated to pay fees if they terminate the contract early. At this point, it would appear that their only option is to remain in Formula One with the Renault engine, assuming that Renault will still want to supply to them.
It’s not really clear whether Red Bull is serious about leaving or if they are just looking for some kind of sympathy from the other teams, but the fans are definitely not happy by the lack of sportsmanship. Winning is not the only aspect of motor racing and threatening to leave because they are not winning, despite having just won four championship titles, is not the proper mindset for a team that has a true passion for motorsport.
Whether the team purchases an engine or straps on a ton of shaken Red Bull to the rear wing or carves holes in the floor so that drivers can turn the car into the vehicle from The Flintstones, we will see Red Bull on the grid in 2016. The penalty for leaving is just too high at the moment.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company. Assumptions made in any analysis contained within this article are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author.
