Renault: No plans to change alternator supplier despite problems

The double failure that Sebastian Vettel suffered over the Italian Grand Prix weekend prompted comments from Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz in the German media that Renault should ditch current supplier Magneti Marelli.

Renault's head of trackside operations Remi Taffin insists, however, that it is happy with how his company's relationship with Magneti Marelli works - and thinks that sticking together to resolve the issues with a known partner is the best way forward.

"The first thing is I was never requested to change this by Dietrich," explained Taffin. "If he has said that then it is up to him - and it would be fair to discuss that.

"But as of now we are not considering dropping Marelli. In fact, it is the opposite: we are looking at all the options possible, one of which is to do as we did for Monza which is work with our current suppliers to sort the issue and try some new parts.

"They [Marelli] are working very nicely with us, and since Monza they are working [at Renault's base] in Viry. They are there, working with us to build alternators.

"The only way to have a short term fix is to keep working with your customers and suppliers, because you know how you work together and you know how it is put together."

Magneti Marelli's motorsport director Roberto Dalla told Gazzetta dello Sport that he was taken aback by Mateschitz's demand that Renault change suppliers.

"This quote has surprised us, but I don't want to comment on it because I don't understand it," he said. "All the analysis we have done indicate that the part did not have problems.

"We can say that it probably broke down because of the exceptional mechanical stress it was subjected to."