Christian Horner is confident Renault’s return to Formula 1 as a fully fledged works team will also benefit Red Bull Racing.
Despite a pubic falling out last season and a failed attempt to find a new partner, Red Bull will once again be powered by Renault in 2016, albeit with the French firm’s power units badged under the TAG-Heuer brand.
Red Bull will receive identical power units to the works Renault team, and Horner expects this added focus for the French manufacturer to have a knock on effect on his own team’s performance.
“The positive thing is that by Renault committing to Formula 1, they’re committing hopefully the necessary wherewithal to the budgets to enable themselves to be competitive,” the Red Bull team principal told reporters including Grand Prix Times on Wednesday.
“To be competitive in Formula 1 you need a competitive engine.
“There seems to be changes afoot to embrace change and development that will hopefully see the power unit progress during the course of the year.”
After two trying years since the introduction of the current hybrid turbo engines, Horner reckons Renault is finally heading in the right direction with its development.
“I get the feeling that they have a much better idea of where their performance deficiency has been and what they need to do to address that,” he said.
“There seems to be a lot more confidence and focus, and I think with the bit of restructuring that they’ve done there, they’ve got some quality consultants in there now with plenty of experience.
“They’ve got Bob Bell back involved who obviously brings a lot of experience from Mercedes-Benz and obviously from a previous successful stint at Renault.
“So I think they’re addressing the right areas now.”
