Abiteboul 'sorry, not sorry' over Red Bull relationship

Renault F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul admitted that he is happy to see the back of the partnership between Renault and Red Bull. The world championship-winning partnership fell apart at the beginning of the hybrid era and never recovered, resulting in a very public falling out between the two parties.

Red Bull was very critical of the Renault power unit, claiming that the engines provided by the French manufacturer were underpowered and unable to challenge at the top of F1, blaming their partners for a lack of success in recent years.

Abiteboul admitted that whilst the Renault power unit was not in a position the team want it to be at, he was happy to be finished with Red Bull and instead focus on developing a competitive engine without the negative input of their former partners.

“One of the reasons why we are sorry but not sorry to stop the relationship with Red Bull is simply because Red Bull was controlling our communication and we had to react,” he told Motorsport.com. 

“It was not on a level of playing field, because Red Bull is so much more powerful than us from a communication standpoint.

“We were constantly on the back foot and, on many occasions, it was a communication that was suiting their purpose. And we are in a world where unfortunately the noise and communication is becoming a reality.

“Let’s be clear: our engine situation is still not where it needs to be but it is not as bad as maybe it looks from afar, and I can tell you it will be much better next year.”

Red Bull will instead use Honda engines next year alongside Toro Rosso whilst Renault will continue to supply McLaren.