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Red Bull may seek engines from Ferrari after Mercedes snub

Red Bull and Renault's fractured relationship is pushing the Austrian F1 team to find a new engine provider. But after a trip across the German border to chat with Mercedes-Benz proved fruitless, the team is apparently set to head across its home country's southern border, and into Italy. Yep, Red Bull Ferrari could be a thing next season. According to RBR boss Christian Horner, the company is just doing "necessary due diligence" in contacting other engine suppliers, although he's willfully admitted to Germany's Bild newspaper that the "idea of Mercedes is finished," BBC Sport reports. It wasn't so much that Mercedes and Red Bull couldn't come to financial agreement – Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz views throwing money into F1 in much the same way you or I toss pennies into the mall fountain – but rather that the Germans had no interest in supplying the best engines on the grid to the factory team's perennial rival. BBC Sport seems to think that fact, along with what the outlet calls Red Bull's "antagonistic" relationship with engine suppliers, killed the Mercedes deal. Honda and RBR aren't likely to happen either, thanks to McLaren (not that we think Red Bull would approach the Japanese, which have struggled mightily all season long). By process of elimination, that just leaves Ferrari. Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene confirmed that his team can accommodate Red Bull's engine needs, and that he wasn't concerned with the idea of a Ferrari engine in an Adrian Newey-designed body. "In theory they have big names, with Newey as chief designer and it is easy to think that if you give them the engine they will build a scary chassis, which means they will be really competitive," Arrivabene told BBC Sport. "Concerning my team, my engineers and aerodynamicists know their own jobs. For that reason I don't have a problem, and competition is nice when you have a stronger competitor." "This doesn't mean tomorrow morning we will give our engines to Red Bull or Toro Rosso," Arrivabene added. And it's that statement we'd suggest remembering. There are, after all, still seven races left in the 2015 season, which is quite a lot of time for new and different developments within the sport's notoriously gruesome political process. In other words, don't count on an announcement from any team or manufacturer for at least a few more races. Related Video:

Subcompact Crossover Comparo Roundtable | Autoblog Podcast #599

This week, we've got a special episode of the Autoblog Podcast, wherein you'll hear the extended version of the roundtable discussion from our Subcompact Crossover Comparison. In it, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski, Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and Associate Editor Joel Stocksdale. After extensive testing (and filming) in Northern Michigan, our editors break down what they liked and loathed about the Honda HR-V, Hyundai Kona, Jeep Renegade and Kia Soul. Grab a cup of coffee with us, and enjoy. Autoblog Podcast #599 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:    

Auto News Recap for 9.9.16 | Autoblog Minute

A recap of the week in automotive news, including Honda Civic Type R spy shots, Toyota Supra spy shots, and a teaser of the Lexus UX crossover concept. Honda Lexus Toyota Crossover Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video honda civic type r supra hot hatch lexus ux concept