Still no solution in sight to former world champs' 2016 engine crisis
Thursday 5 November 2015 11:44, UK
Red Bull have extended their deadline to find an engine deal for 2016 to mid-November.
The former world champions have warned that they will leave the sport at the end of the season unless they source a 'competitive supply' of engines but are currently bereft of a deal of any kind for next year.
After Mercedes formally rejected their request for a 2016 power supply, the former world champions are believed to have three options for next season: reconciling with Renault, accepting a spec-old supply of Ferrari units or gambling on Honda if McLaren can be persuaded to share their power providers.
Whether any of those options will be palatable to Dietrich Mateschitz, the Red Bull owner who had previously set an end-of-October deadline for his team to complete a deal, remains to be seen.
"We are working very hard to try to find a solution," Christian Horner, Red Bull's team principal, told Sky F1. "Hopefully we will achieve that, unfortunately there are blockades whichever way you look, but somehow we will find a way."
Indeed, while the extension of the deadline serves as sobering confirmation that a 2016 deal has still not yet been secured, Red Bull's determination to find a solution to their current predicament can also be interpreted as proof that the team are not yet willing to walk away from F1.
"We are massively tight on time and ideally we would have made our decision prior to the end of October. That isn't the case but hopefully we will be honing in on something soon," added Horner.
Pressed to confirm that the deadline had been extended, Horner flatly replied: "It has had to be."
McLaren are believed to be opposed to Honda powering their former track rivals next season after Eric Boullier, Horner's counterpart at McLaren, warned that they were "not a charity foundation".
Renault, meanwhile, have yet to formally comment on the notion that they could reconcile with a team which served 'divorce papers' on them three months ago in the apparent belief that Mercedes were ready to replace them as Red Bull's engine suppliers.
