Red Bull and Renault heading for messy divorce

Red Bull chiefs are adamant that they have until the Austrian Grand Prix to make the decision, but in the wake of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend (the first deadline set for the decision to either stick with Renault or opt for Honda power) Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul said he wants a decision much sooner.

Max Verstappen had a strong weekend in Montreal topping the timing sheets in all free practice sessions, qualified third and finished third.

Teammate Daniel Ricciardo had technical issues early on in the weekend which had him on the back foot and he never really found the sweet spot around Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after his masterful victory in Monaco two weeks earlier.

Despite the latest Canada update, the Renault engine still lacks a 'party mode' that rivals Mercedes and Ferrari have at their disposal for the crucial Q3 stanza of qualifying, this time out it was worth about half a second around the Ile Notre Dame.

However, despite the power deficit, the RB14 has won twice in seven races with Ricciardo also bagging maximum points in China.

With regards to the contentious engine decision deadline, Abiteboul told reporters after the race in Canada, "I guess they have all the information that they need now. I don't see why they are going to further delay the decision."

"As per the regulations, [the deadline] was May 15, and then we accepted to extend that a little bit on the back of 12 years of good collaboration."

"But past a certain point, the offer we made, and that they requested, will not stand. It was Montreal that they wanted to wait for: our new spec, Honda's new spec. They have all the information, I see no absolutely no reason to delay that any further."

When asked if the Austrian Grand Prix decision deadline was realistic, Abiteboul replied, "I don't think so. It's simply because we need to source the components. We're already behind, and it's Renault deciding the timing, not Red Bull."

"Usually we speak after a weekend, we don't do that on Sunday evening, with all the emotions, we let all the testosterone go down a little bit, and we will discuss. But we will not be able to wait for the sort of timing that they've mentioned this weekend."

Red Bull and Renault enjoyed huge success - eight championships in four years - before the current turbo era in which their fortunes have dipped. Since then, with Abiteboul at the helm of Renault Sport, relations have deteriorated to a series of media-based slanging matches between their respective chiefs.

Nevertheless, Abiteboul insisted that he is keen for the partnership to continue, "We're trying hard, but that must be under conditions that are acceptable to us, starting with the timing. I don't want to start mentioning a date, otherwise you'll start calling me that day."

"I have a date, they know the day, but we are not talking about Austria. Austria, we won't be here, and they will be talking directly to Honda. They wanted an offer, we've made an offer, that offer has to be accepted in the next few days," declared Abiteboul.

On the other side of the fence Red Bull team chief Christian Horner is convinced his team have time on their side, at least until the end of this month to make the call and team consultant Helmut Marko has similar ideas.

When asked if Renault would get an answer this week, Marko said, "He won't get it. I can't tell you anything until Austria. We will have facts which we are waiting for, and we want to be prepared to make the right decision."