Red Bull extends deal and gets closer to Renault

Red Bull has extended its deal with Renault into the turbo era by agreeing a deal to use the French engines for a further five seasons.

There will be two more years with the V8 before the new engines come on stream in 2014. It also leaves the door open for RBR to extend its sponsorship arrangement with Infiniti.

Intriguingly the deal covers far more than just an engine and KERS supply as Renault appears to be forging the sort of technical relationship it previously enjoyed with the team now known as LRGP.

In a statement Renault said: “Within the new agreement, a technical joint venture will be set up, in which Red Bull Technology an Renault Sport F1 will collaborate to develop innovative technical solutions for the V6-based power unit that will be introduced from 2014. Red Bull Technology and Renault Sport F1 will contribute their respective know-how, experience and specialist personnel to the project to achieve a competitive and reliable power train to be used by Red Bull Racing and other customer teams.”

Renault Sport F1 boss Bernard Rey noted: “We are delighted that the Red Bull Racing-Renault partnership has been extended for a further five years, which will take us to a decade of collaboration. Red Bull Racing and Renault share the views that stability is a fundamental condition to perform at the top levels of competition. As well as being a unique opportunity to showcase the performance of the Renault engines at the highest possible level, it is also is a fantastic arena to develop the technology and expertise within the Renault-Nissan Alliance.”

Christian Horner added: “We’re obviously thrilled to announce this significantly enhanced agreement with the Renault-Nissan Alliance, who we have enjoyed a close working relationship with since 2007. Renault Sport F1 has always been very straightforward to work with, which has been a contributing factor to the on-going success of the Red Bull Racing-Renault partnership.”