Christian Horner issues response to Renault F1 exit after Red Bull war of words

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says it is “sad” that Renault are poised to end their F1 engine project as the Alpine team consider a customer engine supply for the F1 2026 season.

Outgoing Alpine team principal Bruno Famin confirmed at the recent Belgian Grand Prix that Renault intend to reallocate their historic F1 engine base at Viry-Chatillon to other projects, with the Frenchman stepping away from the team to oversee the process.

Christian Horner ‘sad’ to see former Red Bull partners Renault leave

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The move will see the Renault-owned Alpine outfit take a a customer engine supply for 2026, with the Enstone-based team outfit thought likely to return to Mercedes power having last partnered with the German manufacturer in 2015.

Red Bull were powered by Renault during their first dominant period with Sebastian Vettel, winning four consecutive Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship doubles between 2010 and 2013.

Red Bull and Renault’s joint exploitation of blown-diffuser technology was widely praised as one of the keys behind Vettel’s success.

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However, Renault’s struggles under the V6-hybrid engine rules resulted in strains to their relationship with Red Bull, with Horner frequently criticising the French manufacturer in public.

Red Bull and Renault went their separate ways at the end of the 2019 season as the Milton Keynes-based team struck an agreement with Honda, who powered Max Verstappen to his maiden title triumph in 2021.

Although Honda officially withdrew from F1 at the end of that season, the Japanese manufacturer has continued to provide technical assistance to Red Bull as the team prepare an in-house engine, in conjunction with American giants Ford, ahead of F1’s next major rule changes in 2026.

Reacting to the news of Renault’s impending F1 exit, Horner expressed his regret at seeing another engine manufacturer leave the sport.

He told media including PlanetF1.com: “I’m always sad to see an engine manufacturer go.

“Viry has been involved in Formula 1 for many, many years. I understand they have other projects that they are involved in.

“They supplied engines to us for many years, so we know quite a lot of people there and wish them well for the future.”

Horner’s comments come after a union rep lifted the lid on the disquiet among staff at Viry, describing Renault’s withdrawal as “a betrayal.”

Karine Dubreucq is quoted by French publication L’Equipe as commenting: “We didn’t see it coming. It’s a stab in the back, a betrayal.

“We developed engines here that were capable of becoming F1 champions twelve times over, and now we can’t?

“They didn’t even wait for the first run on the test bench.”

One specialist, speaking anonymously to L’Equipe, suggested Renault’s 2026 engine has the potential to be as good as that of Mercedes, who have arguably set the standard for F1 engines over the last two decades having aced the move to hybrid power in 2014.

“We think it will be equivalent to the Mercedes engine,” the specialist said.

“At worst, there will be a difference of 15 horsepower. We have redesigned everything in the turbo.”

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