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Without engine deal, Red Bull could be squeezed out of F1

It would have seemed unthinkable just a couple of years ago when it was winning more races than it lost and scoring one world championship after another, but these days Red Bull can't get a competitive engine. And if it doesn't get one soon, it could be forced out of Formula One altogether. This development emerges after two years of the once indomitable but now deteriorating relationship between Red Bull and its longtime engine partner Renault. When F1 switched from the previous V8 engines to the new hybrid turbo V6 power units ahead of last season, Renault dropped the ball, and Mercedes picked it up. Ferrari has since recovered much of the lost ground to push the Mercedes factory team for wins, but Red Bull and Renault have not. The stress of falling off their perch has left both parties pointing fingers at each other to the point that the team's longtime technical director Adrian Newey doesn't think the marriage is salvageable, or worth salvaging. "Unfortunately, our relationship with Renault is pretty terminal – there's been too much of a marriage breakdown, so we have no engine," said Newey. That's left Red Bull looking elsewhere for a new engine deal, but so far it's been unable to find one. The prospect of replacing sponsor Infiniti and supplier Red Bull with a similar partnership with Aston Martin and Mercedes has apparently come to naught. And the proposed buyout and engine deal from the Volkswagen Group evidently collapsed in the wake of that brand's diesel emissions scandal. That leaves Red Bull to turn to one of the existing engine suppliers in the series, and apparently neither Ferrari nor Mercedes are willing to sell their engines to one of their chief rivals. As McLaren has demonstrated this season, the Honda engines aren't up to speed, either. Which leaves Red Bull with nowhere else to turn. And if it doesn't find something in time for next season (or the following one at the latest), Newey says it may have to pack it in and close up shop. "Red Bull should not be put in a position where they're only there to make up the numbers." Related Video: News Source: Reuters via Motorsport.comImage Credit: Felipe Dana/AP Motorsports Ferrari Renault F1

Race Recap: 2014 Australian Grand Prix quietly opens the new F1 era [spoilers]

The first chapter of the new Formula One era has been written with the conclusion of the Australian Grand Prix, and it included a rookie rush, some resurgent and some unsurprising performances, the sound of screeching tires and a couple of firsts.
Outside predictions as to the pace of the Mercedes AMG Petronas team were proved as soon as the Friday practice sessions, with Lewis Hamilton recovering from an engine sensor fault in the first session to top the second, followed by teammate Nico Rosberg. That didn't change come the start of qualifying, not even the rain slowing down the Silver Arrows, Hamilton taking pole as the last man across the line in Q3.
The surprises were in the order behind him, with new Infiniti Red Bull Racing man Daniel Ricciardo grabbing second spot just three-tenths of a second down on Hamilton. Ricciardo not only looked like he belonged at the front of the grid the entire weekend, but he seems to have reversed the Mark Webber jinx: four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel had car issues and didn't get into Q3, having to settle for 13th on the grid.

Race Recap: 2014 US Grand Prix goes the English way yet again

Thankfully, the weekend's Formula One dramas all concerned events that happened off the track, with both Caterham and Marussia going into administration, after which a rumored boycott by the small teams was avoided. That gave the 18 drivers left on the grid freedom to focus on making the most of the Texas sunshine for Sunday's US Grand Prix.
Having finished two Free Practices behind teammate Mercedes AMG Petronas teammate Lewis Hamilton, the second one just .003 behind, Nico Rosberg said he had speed in hand and proved it during qualifying, beating Hamilton to the top spot by four-tenths of a second. Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa came behind, followed by Daniel Ricciardo in the Infiniti Red Bull Racing, Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari, the McLaren duo of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen, Kimi Räikkönen in the second Ferrari, and little-team Sauber bursting out of the storm clouds into tenth, Adrian Sutil making the team's first-time Q3 appearance all year.
When it came time to race, the carbon-fiber fisticuffs began on the first lap.