Red Bull are on the verge of ditching Renault as their Formula 1 engine supplier and sign up for a long-term deal with Honda, the landmark decision is set to be announced during the French Grand Prix weekend at Paul Ricard.
The very public and much-anticipated divorce has been on the cars for the past three years as Red Bull and Renault, the latter under the leadership of Cyril Abiteboul, have an endured an increasingly fractious and largely destructive partnership.
Although Red Bull have won ten races since the new engine formula kicked in back in 2014 they have never really been able to challenge for the title seriously, this on the back of four years in which they utterly dominated, with Renault, during the last normally aspirated era of a few years back.
Public bickering, mediocre results and a regular clash of personalities between the Red Bull heavy hitters and the Renault boss made the partnership increasingly untenable.
Case in point being a month-long battle of wills regarding the date of the engine decision which Renault have been keen to have ASAP as they prepare the production of F1 power units for next season, while Red Bull have mocked the deadline which should have been finalised earlier this month.
When McLaren opted to ditch Honda last year, this triggered a set of complex negotiations which ended with the Woking outfit moving to Renault customer status and Red Bull securing works Honda power for their Toro Rosso team.
The past six months have been a test-bed for Honda as they integrate with the Red Bull junior team with the view of supplying the senior team. It appears that all the boxes are now ticked and it is merely a case of inking the deal before it is announced.
The commitment and ambitions of both organisations are united in the quest to return Honda to the top of the Formula 1 pile, while Red Bull will have works status with an organisation that has deep pockets to service their various racing programmes.
Right now no one is commenting on the latest development, it is said that in a matter of days all will be revealed.
Since this report was published, we can confirm that Red Bull has opted for the Honda partnership and will ditch Renault at the end of this season. Report here>>>
Big Question: Red Bull powered by Honda is a good or bad thing for the energy drinks organisation?
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