Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said on Friday the team will quit Formula One if it cannot find a competitive engine after its looming divorce from Renault.
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Red Bull won four straight titles from 2010 to 2013 but they are in danger of being left high and dry after Renault vowed to stop supplying F1 engines.
“The decision is done. If we don’t have a competitive engine we will leave Formula One,” Marko told Sky Sports, refusing to comment about a potential switch to Ferrari engines.
“I don’t want to go into details, but what’s clear is we want a competitive engine, because with these regulations you saw at Monza we were two seconds behind.”
BBC reporting VW is about to buy @redbullracing F1 team most likely to be rebranded Audi. Remember we told you first http://t.co/zccUaq0JVt
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Marko was speaking after Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo finished first and third in Friday’s second free practice session at the Singapore Grand Prix.
“Today we are ahead, but maybe that will change tomorrow… As long as you don’t have a power unit which can compete it doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Red Bull lie fourth in the constructors’ standings after a disappointing season which their hierarchy has consistently blamed on its Renault engines.
The French company has now pledged to walk away from the long-running partnership and is attempting to form its own team by buying out financially struggling Lotus.
The row leaves Red Bull with Ferrari as their only credible engine-maker, with Mercedes ruling themselves out and Honda struggling to be competitive with partner outfit McLaren.
Marko’s sentiments were echoed by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
“You can clearly see that there are two competitive power units in Formula One and you do not have to be a rocket scientist to work out which two those are,” Horner said.
“It is quite clear that one of those will not supply us with an engine, so that leaves really only one option and if that option is not available then you have got to question – as (team owner) Dietrich made clear earlier in the year, he wants to race with a competitive engine or we won’t have an engine.”
Asked if that meant Red Bull would not be on the grid, Horner replied: “It is a risk, and it is a risk that should not be underestimated. If we have no engine, you cannot push the car.
“There needs to be some sort of decisions made about the situation and I am sure things will become clear in a few weeks.”
