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Yesterday, we reported that Scuderia Ferrari chairman Ferrari Formula One chairman Sergio Marchionne offered the embattled Red Bull Racing team Ferrari power units to use. The team have long expressed their displeasure at the power units they are currently using, manufactured by French automaker Renault.
We can now report that Red Bull have refused the offer from the Prancing Horse, and will remain in partnership with Renault until their contract expires in 2016.
Red Bull Racing drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat have both faced recurrent engine problems this season, as have the drivers at sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. Both Ricciardo and Kvyat picked up penalties prior to the Grand Prix in Austria for exceeding the limit of ICEs (Internal Combustion Engines) they were allowed. While each Formula One driver is permitted four, both drivers were now on their 5th following several engine failures, most spectacularly Ricciardo’s in Bahrain, where the Australian somehow managed to hold on to his 6th place spot and coast over the finish line with an engine billowing smoke.
Following issues earlier this year, Red Bull company boss Dietrich Mateschitz, motorsport chief Helmut Marko and team principal Christian Horner all expressed displeasure, but each of them routinely denied that any deal with another manufacturer was in the works, categorically refuting all rumours of a potential $300mn deal.
While Ferrari racing chairman Marchionne offered Red Bull power units, these, says Christian Horner, came with several provisos. "Sergio generously offered us his engine, but I suppose he did not disclose to you the terms on which he offers them,” he said in an interview following Red Bull’s rejection of the offer.
The team will continue its partnership with the manufacturer, with Horner saying in his statement “ we have a contract with Renault, so there is no decision to make."
