Why Renault deserves credit for Red Bull resurgence

Who would have thought that a year ago Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff would have been talking about "the very real threat" being posed by Red Bull heading into this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix?

But those are the exact words that highlight the dramatic turnaround that's taken place over the past 12 months.

Approaching last year's race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Red Bull's then nine-year partnership with Renault stood on the brink of separation.

The four seasons of glory from 2010-13 had almost been forgotten. A year ago, that feel-good factor had been replaced for the most part by acrimony, bitterness and mudslinging following the start of the 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged power-unit era.

The Red Bull hierarchy had become prone to uttering criticisms, as if taking a stick to prod the seemingly lazy entity that was its engine partner, trying to provoke it into pulling its finger out, given how far it had fallen behind Mercedes and Ferrari.

As Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul said at the time, such barbs proved a drain on the confidence of many at the French manufacturer. In Canada he declared: "We are trying to get Red Bull to support us rather than bash us publicly."

In the good times of Red Bull's success, Renault was an afterthought; but in the bad times, all accusing fingers were being pointed at the engine builder. Renault was demoralised and dispirited.

As for Red Bull, over the following months owner Dietrich Mateschitz issued many a threat to quit F1 such was his despair at Renault's failings, while witnessing at the same time Mercedes' brutal domination.

Behind the scenes Red Bull tried to extricate itself from its engine supply contract. Mateschitz first struck a handshake deal with Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda, only for the board, and Wolff, to intervene in what was effectively a case of 'over my dead body'.

Ferrari was approached, as was Honda, to no avail, leaving Red Bull to return to Renault, tail between its legs. Renault agreed to see out the final year of the deal, but it came at a price to Red Bull as a £50 million hole was left in its budget as Infiniti pulled the plug on its title sponsorship deal.

With Infiniti the luxury division of carmaker Nissan - the Japanese manufacturing giant one half of a formidable alliance with Renault - the financial penalty to Red Bull was far from crippling, but certainly severe.

Renault opted to withdraw its name from the power unit, offering Red Bull the opportunity to rebrand the system and at least claw back some of the revenues lost with Infiniti's exit.

As far as Renault was concerned, such a move ensured that Mateschitz, advisor Helmut Marko and team principal Christian Horner could not deride it in the way they had previously done to such damaging effect.

Mateschitz was not the only one manoeuvring behind the scenes - Renault was also taking steps to ensure it again became a major player in F1.

Fed up at receiving little respect or credit for the part it played in Red Bull's four consecutive years of championship glory, Renault opted to revive its former works status, eventually completing a protracted buyout of Lotus.

Expectations were soon tempered, and rightly so given that the Enstone-based team had been forced to slash personnel to help erode multi-million-pound losses, which in turn impacted upon development.

Renault has been at pains to point out that its rebuilding programme will take years to come to fruition, yet while patience might be a virtue, it cuts little ice in the unforgiving world that is F1, when instant success is demanded.

Six grands prix into the 2016 season and Renault has so far managed to get a car into the top 10 just once.

That's precious little return for its investment, but these are still very early days. Without Red Bull, though, it might still be scrabbling around in the dark trying to work out which direction to take with its car.

Abiteboul has always had faith in his personnel, that Renault as a power-unit supplier would emerge from its slump.

It's done so quicker than expected, with a Renault engine powering Max Verstappen to victory in the Spanish Grand Prix and Daniel Ricciardo only failing to win in Monaco due to a Red Bull pitstop blunder. So it's no wonder that heading into Canada, Red Bull is again a force to be feared.

We all know the RB12 is powered by Renault, but from a marketing and commercial perspective the manufacturer can take no credit after Red Bull rebadged the system as TAG Heuer.

That must hurt Renault, knowing that last year Red Bull was hurling accusations like confetti and, like a kid throwing his toys out of his pram because he could not get his own way, wanted out of its deal.

One year on and the team is competitive again, but Renault can't enjoy the benefit, at least not in public.

Behind the scenes, however, there is pride at the job they've done to turn the tide, even if for now it's Red Bull in the limelight and not Renault's own works team.

Following Verstappen's win in Spain, Abiteboul conceded there was "huge satisfaction" for all within the factory at Viry, reminding doubters that "hard work always pays off".

Renault was rewarded with a two-year extension to its supply contract with Red Bull for 2017 and '18, with Toro Rosso also returning to the fold after it opted for year-old Ferrari power this year.

That deal was announced on the Sunday morning of an eye-opening weekend in Monaco. With an upgraded power unit, Ricciardo took a stunning pole position that should have been converted into another win.

For this weekend's race in Canada, Verstappen will join Ricciardo in enjoying the benefits of an upgrade expected to yield a 0.5s gain in laptime around the 2.71-mile layout.

Of the four engine manufacturers, Renault still has by far the most significant number of tokens available in 21, as opposed to the 12 for Honda, 11 for Mercedes and four for Ferrari. This is why Red Bull is such a threat.

The RB12 is arguably F1's best chassis, but it is back at the front thanks to its engine supplier. Let's give credit where it's due.

As for Renault the F1 team, Red Bull's return to form means it now knows virtually all of its deficiencies lie in a chassis that for two thirds of last season went virtually undeveloped as the takeover talks dominated.

Abiteboul is adamant, though, that there can be no excuses for Renault's lack of progress - not the fact that this year's car was designed for a Mercedes engine, nor that they started late on development given the completion of the buyout in mid-December.

Hopefully, Red Bull is privately thanking Renault for the progress made on the engine front. Now it's over to Renault to build itself a chassis worthy of its constructor status, not least with one eye on next year when the rules change considerably.