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.
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“Ricciardo’s contract is fixed and all the options are on our side with Kvyat”. “We had two possibilities, retire the vehicle without even starting, or try our maximum, knowing that maybe one or two laps was the maximum we could achieve”, he said.
Suggested to Horner seeing out Red Bull’s contract with Renault was now the only option, he replied: “There are not a lot of options”.
“Honda are very keen, but unfortunately they have a contractual status that is between them and McLaren that’s nothing to do with us”. The podium was very close and we were fighting until the end, but on the restart after the safety auto we didn’t have enough pace on the straight and Williams went full bananas, so Bottas passed me quite easily.
He told Autosport: “I extend the deadline for three more weeks”.
Horner said the situation had exposed a failure in the sport’s regulations to require manufacturers to supply other teams.
Asked to sum up his experience in the race, Button, who missed Saturday’s qualifying session due to another engine failure, said: “Painful, I think, is the word”. “It’s important to have a competitive, economical engine”.
“If we can’t get a normal engine”, he is quoted by Kleine Zeitung newspaper, “then we will need something else”.
With Mercedes and Ferrari ruled out, Ron Dennis has apparently scuppered any hope of a Honda deal while talk of the team sorting out its problems with Renault has been described as “unthinkable” by Dietrich Mateschitz.
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Formula One’s governing body has said it plans to tender for just such an engine after Ferrari blocked a proposed cost cap on engines and gearboxes.
