The man who designed the quickest car of 2009 and 2010 once again pointed at McLaren for pressuring Mercedes into not signing an engine deal with Red Bull, whereas an agreement with Ferrari would not be based on trust in case the Milton Keynes based team beats them to the championship this season.
“Where shall we go? McLaren has stopped us from getting the Mercedes engine. So there's only Ferrari. But we ask ourselves: if we beat them, will we still have the same specification as the Ferrari team?” said Newey in a recent interview with Germany's Sport Bild.
However, Newey pointed out once again that the Renault engines, as responsive as they are to the team's demands, are less powerful than their Mercedes and Ferrari counterparts. And unless that situation changes for the future, he said people should not rule out Renault's potential withdrawal from the series as an engine supplier.
“This means we now have a gap to Ferrari and Mercedes. And if Renault are not allowed to keep up, I can well imagine them withdrawing as an engine supplier,” added Newey, who revealed that from all the engine manufacturers in F1, Renault are the only ones truly committed to the engine freeze concept implemented by the FIA a while back.
Renault are currently supplying two teams with F1-spec powerplants, Renault F1 and Red Bull Racing. A third team is likely to be added to the list, as Lotus recently ended its deal with Cosworth and is believed to sign a brand new agreement with the French manufacturer.
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