Red Bull has been forced to do a u-turn in its effort to find an engine supply for the 2016 season after Ferrari have reportedly revoked their offer to supply the team with 2015-spec engines.
It’s believed the Milton Keynes team is now in discussions with Renault to continue using its engines in a last-minute gasp to ensure it can make the grid in 2016.
If that fails, Red Bull will have no other option but to quit the sport, something team owner Dietrich Mateschitz has threatened repeatedly, setting a late-October deadline to have the issue resolved.
“Red Bull don’t have an engine. I think it’s absolutely clear that Ferrari won’t and can’t supply them with 2016 engines,” Martin Brundle told Sky Sports.
“Their only option is to walk away or rebuild bridges with Renault,” he added.
Ferrari had previously offered up 2015-spec engines, but Red Bull rejected the offer, demanding equality with Ferrari’s other customer teams, Sauber and Haas.
That offer has now been revoked by the Italian outfit, though it’s believed Toro Rosso could still use Ferrari engines as they’re not such a threat to the works team.
Red Bull have now turned back to Renault, despite cancelling its contract with the French manufacturer a year early after publically complaining about the level of performance offered by their V6 power unit.
Red Bull has a difficult task on its hands convincing Renault to continue supplying engines as it is set to buy the Lotus team and recently said it wouldn’t continue supplying other teams.
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