Ferrari: Red Bull behaviour over 2016 F1 engine supply 'offensive'
Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne says he finds it offensive that Red Bull Racing felt it had a 'right' to have a good Formula 1 engine
Red Bull chose to terminate its contract with Renault amid a fractious relationship and criticism of the French manufacturer's performance and reliability.
Ferrari was among the alternatives Red Bull pursued a deal with, before ending up sticking with Renault - which never formally accepted the contract termination - and rebranding the unit TAG Heuer.
Speaking at the Scuderia's annual Christmas media briefing, Marchionne said he did not approve of Red Bull's behaviour.
"What I find offensive is that somebody considered normal and absolutely rightful to have a good engine," said Marchionne.
"Nobody has the right to get such an engine. Everything has to be defined, in proper times for these specific terms.
"Then Renault didn't want deliver an engine because there were issues in the past and because there were some claims about the requests.
"There were problems in finding the team spirit.
"What Renault did was decide to give Red Bull engines and give Red Bull the opportunity to be successful.
"It's also a matter of fairness, of giving credit where credit is due.
"I do not want to accuse anyone of anything. I don't want to defend [Renault chief] Carlos [Ghosn] or accuse anyone of anything.
"Is a team strong in terms of chassis if it has no engine? It is not a complete team.
"A team is strong when it has strong drivers, strong chassis and a strong power unit."
Red Bull had initially believed it had an engine deal with Mercedes for 2016, before turning to Ferrari and Honda - where a tie-up was vetoed by McLaren - when that fell through.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
F1 testing: Max Verstappen feels 'big difference' in 2018 Red Bull
Williams F1's Oliver Rowland to test Super Formula car at Suzuka
Why F1's under-fire rookie is already causing surprises
Hamilton needs talk with Wolff to prepare Ferrari F1 move
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
How Ferrari has kept itself in the F1 hunt despite no major upgrades
Porsche lodges appeal over da Costa's Misano Formula E disqualification
2024 MotoGP world championship standings after the Americas GP
What Aston Martin’s curfew burn told us about its F1 upgrade trajectory
Tank Slappers Podcast: MotoGP Americas GP review
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
The secrets of F1 turbocharging explained
Why Alpine’s rigorous training camp yields telling insights into its juniors
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments