Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz has reiterated threats to pull both his Formula 1 teams out of the sport if they can’t get their hands on a competitive engine.
His comments follow similar such threats by Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko and team principal Christian Horner, both of which also suggested the FIA step in to help Renault.
Mateschitz has called on Renault to take a step forward otherwise he would consider exiting F1 if the possibility of winning races became an impossibility, as he currently feels is the case.
“We’ll only stay in Formula 1 if we have a competitive team, and we need a competitive power unit for that,” Mateschitz was quoted as saying by the Austria Press Agency (APA).
“If we don’t have one, we can race with the best car and the best drivers and still have no chance of competing for victory.”
The Austrian also suggested that Renault should consider its future involvement in the sport.
“As a manufacturer, it’s your task to deliver a competitive power unit,” he added. “If you can do that, it’s great. If, for whatever reason, you can’t do that, you should pull out.”
Meanwhile, he denied reports that Red Bull could consider designing and building their own engine in the future.
“We are not a car manufacturer who could justify the investment. So we rely on Renault to close the gap to Ferrari and, above all, Mercedes.”
