The Red Bull-Renault saga finally came to an end today after Red Bull announced that they would be making the switch to Honda for the next two seasons.
The data that Red Bull received from the upgraded engines of both teams was enough to sway Red Bull toward Honda.
Renault ofcourse were taken aback and saddened by the ‘divorce’, but Red Bull boss has vowed that Renault will do everything in their power to make Red Bull regret their decision.
“We will do everything we can to make them regret this decision,” said Abiteboul as quoted by Motorsport.com.
“What I mean by that is simply doing the best we can on track with our own team under our own colours.
“I am really extremely excited by the performance improvement to come, in particular with Spec C which we will introduce later this season.
“At this point in time there is no reason to think that Red Bull will not be receiving it, although we are yet to confirm details of engine allocation plan, but I hope that we will make them regret.” he added.
Abiteboul also confirmed that he wasn’t one bit surprised with Red Bull’s decision.
“Not surprised whatsoever, frankly,” he said
“I think first we tend to forget this is a confirmation – it is more a status quo actually.
“Last year in Singapore we announced a comprehensive set of agreements with both the Red Bull group and McLaren.
“This was featuring a termination of Toro Rosso at the end of 2017 and termination of Red Bull at the end of 2018, even though Red Bull had requested to be a bit more vague about that topic.
“It is more that it went in a different direction when Red Bull requested to us an offer, as there was a bit of indecision about which way to go.
“For us it is more a confirmation of what was in the air, and which is also a strategic and commercial decision more than purely a technical or sporting decision from Red Bull.” he added.
Probably the financial benefits of working as a ‘works’ team along with Honda was the biggest motivation for a switch for Red Bull.
“Just like when we returned to the sport as a works team, it was important for Red Bull to renew and get back to a position of being a works team,” explained Abiteboul.
“It could not be with Renault, it had to be with another entity and they found in Honda a perfect match.
“So I am sure it is a mix of factors and parameters. I am sure that there something related to performance, but it is very clear there is much more than this.
“And there are a number of things that we could not offer, like financial support, like access to core facilities, because our priority and focus is on the consolidation of the performance of Renault Sport F1.”
Have Red Bull made the right choice considering all aspects or have they messed up their following season?
