Team Principal Christian Horner believes that his Red Bull Racing team are in a good position to secure what it believes will be a competitive engine for the 2017 season, having agreed to run Tag Heuer-badged Renault engines for 2016.
After a season of disappointments in 2015 and a major breakdown between Red Bull and Renault that almost ended with the energy drinks company withdrawing from the sport altogether, Horner believes they have seen the light at the end of the tunnel and prospects beyond the 2016 season are looking far more bright.
“It’s difficult for me to say at the moment, without being able to announce what our engine plans are, but I believe we should be in a better position,” said Horner. “Everything’s open. I think a lot of things are going to change.”
Horner believes the FIA’s push to make engines cheaper for customer teams is good for the sport, and feels 2017 will see the form book ripped up once more with new regulations coming into effect.
“The FIA are all over this now,” said Horner. “Jean Todt is puffing his chest out that he wants to sort this out and he seems like a man on a mission.
“I think ’17 represents a whole new beginning. There’s a new set of chassis regulations, which is another opportunity for the group to grab hold of a clean sheet of paper. So I think the future actually looks very bright for the team.”
Horner also insists that things can change very quickly in the engine department, and cites Ferrari’s vast improvement between 2014 and 2015, hoping that Renault can improve significantly in 2016.
“This time last year, the Ferrari engine looked the worst of the three,” added Horner. “Things can change very quickly, let’s see what happens over the next three or four months.”
