Red Bull & Renault: Together again?

Red Bull is reportedly looking to stay with Renault as their engine supplier for the 2010 season according to German media, and now covered by Autosport .

The second-place finishers in this years constructors championship were long-rumored to be seeking an engine supply deal with Mercedes for the upcoming season but apparently the details of the deal are where the devil resided. 

According to Autosport, the deal may have fallen through leaving Red Bull to seek a retention for their Renault supply.

Maybe its supposition on my part but this makes sense.  Two engine failures is never good in a season but in the long run, RBR may have had good luck with the French lumps and who actually thought Mercedes would make it easy for their main rival to share the same shove as McLaren and Brawn GP?

The options were Ferrari (supplying sister team STR), Toyota (rumored to be leaving the sport within a few weeks), and Cosworth (untested from a reliability stand point). As it is, Renault seems to be the evil they know instead of the evil they don’t know…specifically in the case of Cosworth.

The one remaining mystery is what will become of BMW’s F1 engine program? Surely if the wayward team does find a way tot he grid, it will be pushed by the famous lump from Munchen, but there were rumors of a McLaren interest in purchasing the program.

Surely Red Bull could launch itself into the future as a full constructor by owning its own engine program and if Qadbak’s boys from Bavaria don’t get the coveted 14th spot in the grid, chances are someone in the Rhine will be looking for some cash.

According to Red Bull, the lack of refueling in 2010 may play in to their hands as Renault is stingy with fuel use and could be a champ in the mileage game (starting to sound like NASCAR):

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“Since Monza, Renault has remarkably raised their game and done everything they could for us to have such a strong finish of the year,” said Christian Horner.

“Renault has fuel-efficient engines which will be very important in 2010.”

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