GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => F1 Teams => Topic started by: John S on June 20, 2018, 10:47:55 AM
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Comments by Cyril Abiteboul in a piece on Grandprix247.com suggest to me there may be more to the continued delaying on Red Bull's part than plain indecision about which supplier to use - surely not. :swoon:
In the wake of a silly deadline spat between the two outfits, Renault finally got their way with an early call by their colleagues as Abiteboul highlighted, “It was making our life difficult with the supply chain and the development of parts for next year, plus there is also some sensitivity related to intellectual property (IP).”
“It was always our baseline assumption that they would be switching to another engine supplier for next year and we were becoming more and more concerned about IP. It was important for us to get clarity of their plans for next year so we could take appropriate measures.”
“Equally if they were not going somewhere else, we could slightly change the way we were working together both for the remainder of this season and the preparation of next season.”
“So there were a number of factors that were requiring some clarity and if anything I could like to thank them for appreciating that there was no point in delaying a decision,” concluded Abiteboul.
(Courtesy Grandprix247.com, 19th June).
Cyril also had this to say about agreements with RBR and McLaren from Singapore last year.
Abiteboul knew that the writing was on the wall for quite some time now, “Not surprised whatsoever, frankly, 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.”
Nevertheless, Abiteboul was big enough to understand the call from Red Bull’s perspective, “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.’
“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.”
(Courtesy Grandprix247.com, 19th June).
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Certainly that may be Cyril's perspective on it, but I wonder if it wasn't more about RBR making sure they had a contract with Honda that they can be happy with (escape clauses etc...), and used the delay to put pressure on Honda to give them what they want.
Of course there would be IP issues on the Renault side, but as he said, that just changed their relationship somewhat so Renault could protect themselves. And it was the worst kept secret in the paddock that it was all but a done deal by the time this season started.
I still think DR should run for the hills rather than stay with RBR.