Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has praised Ferrari’s “super job” to cut the gap to Mercedes and hopes Renault can help the Milton Keynes-based squad do likewise.
Ferrari has been the defending champions’ nearest and most consistent rival this year, despite finishing a distant fourth in the 2014 Constructor’s standings with a winless season. One of its biggest improvements has come from the Italian power unit, as also highlighted by supplied team Sauber’s decent point-scoring form in 2015.
“I think Ferrari has done a super job and obviously thrown an awful lot of effort, time and resource at closing the gap [to Mercedes] so they’ve demonstrated that it is possible,” said Horner.
“I take heart from that and hope that Renault can make the same commitment to bridging that gap."
On the contrary, Red Bull secured the 2014 runner-up spot behind Mercedes with three wins, but the four-time world champions have since regressed in Formula One’s current pecking order.
Horner has already labeled 2015 a “write-off’ and claimed 80-85% of the deficit comes from its power unit. And lengthy engine development periods make the Red Bull boss quite coy about Renault and his team’s future prospects.
“I don’t know”, replied Horner when quizzed on his hopes for 2016. “The frustrating thing with the power unit is the lead times are just so long.
“There are some important tests going on in the next two weeks on the dyno over at Viry and they’ll have a significant impact on next year – or at least the direction [for next year] so it’s a big two weeks behind the scenes in Viry-Châtillon."
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