Red Bull hints at Tag Heuer engine branding in Formula 1

After months of uncertainty and failed negotiations with various potential power unit partners, Red Bull is close to officially announcing its plans for next year.

The understanding is it has renegotiated its contract with Renault after serving notice earlier this year it no longer wished to continue for the final season in '16.

After recently poaching luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer as a sponsor from McLaren, it now appears as if the name will again appear on an engine, as it did with the British team in the 1980s.

Via Twitter, Red Bull issued a tweet with the words 'Swiss engineering to close the gap next season', 'Tag Heuer and Infiniti Red Bull Racing 2016'.

It is accompanied by a picture of a team of four engineers, wearing Tag Heuer branded white coats, looking into a Red Bull, minus the engine.

When asked about the engine deal over the course of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, in one of his remarks team principal Christian Horner said: "I don't think Ron Dennis will be very happy."

McLaren ran TAG-badged, Porsche-supplied turbo engines from late 1983, starting with the MP4/1E, through to the MP4/3 of '87.

CAR BUILD ON SCHEDULE

Horner added over the Abu Dhabi GP weekend that Red Bull is back on schedule with its 2016 preparations now its engine situation has been resolved.

"We've designed four different variants of it [chassis]," said Horner.

"But with next year being fairly static with the rules, it is very much an evolution.

"It's made the timescales much tighter, but the whole team has done a super job at working tremendously hard on the hours to get us back on schedule."

Horner also believes Red Bull has proved over the second half of 2015 it is still capable of producing a top chassis in F1.

"What's been really satisfying is that from since Silverstone onwards the chassis has been right there at any opportunity and in any sector not dominated by straightline speed," added Horner.

"If you look at the last sector in Abu Dhabi and the wing levels we were running in comparison to some of our opponents, it was enormously impressive.

"It demonstrated the class of the chassis."