Red Bull hope Renault press through improvements before end of 2015

Christian Horner is hoping it will be no more than “two or three months” before the ‘new project’ Renault are working on is delivered to the track – with the Red Bull chief adamant improvements need to materialise this season.

Eighteen months on from the opening tests of F1’s present V6 turbo engines, Renault remain uncompetitive relative to rivals Mercedes and have also slipped back behind Ferrari since the start of this season.

In June, Horner revealed that the French engine supplier would spend the following weeks running some crucial tests on their dynos in Viry-Chatillon, work which Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko described as a ‘new project’.

Several weeks on, and Horner says he has heard progress has been encouraging and Renault are now deciding how they tackle the rest of the 2015 season.

“As far as I am aware I think that they are making good progress on their dyno,” the Red Bull team principal told the official F1 website. “They now have some strategic decisions about implementation, and the direction they want to take their development for the rest of this season – and that has an enormous impact on next year.”

Despite their continued struggles, Renault have hitherto chosen not to deploy any of their remaining engine development ‘tokens’ since the start of the season. Of F1's four engine suppliers, the French firm have by far the most unspent, 12, while rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda all have just seven left ahead of the season's final 10 rounds.

Renault are thought to have delayed big performance upgrades so they can take advantage of the ideas of legendary engine guru Mario Illien, whose company began a consultancy role to help drive engine improvements at the end of last year.

Horner, whose former champion team are enduring their worst season for seven years, concedes Red Bull naturally want Renault improvements as quickly as possible.

“Of course it tests our patience. Like any competitive team we want performance yesterday, and unfortunately with engines the lead time is a lot longer than with the chassis,” he admitted.

“Patience is something that we are not really good at. We want to have performance as soon as possible.”

Asked what ‘as soon as possible’ meant, Horner replied: “From where the concept is at the moment you are probably looking at least at a couple of months. Two to three months. It needs to happen this year – but also what you learn this year will help you next season.”

Although Red Bull are contracted to Renault until the end of 2016, the chances of the long-running partnership extending beyond next season is looking increasingly remote following high-profile fractures in the relationship over the last 12 months and the fact the French marque are considering becoming a team owner again.

In addition to uncertainty surrounding their own F1 future, Red Bull have been linked with surprise engine tie-ups with both Mercedes and Ferrari in recent weeks.

Regarding the Ferrari rumours, Horner said: “I think it would be an exaggeration saying that Red Bull is ‘flirting’ with Ferrari. Obviously Red Bull Group had a relationship with Ferrari for many years as engine supplier for Toro Rosso. Sergio [Marchionne] made a generous offer without any details when he attended the Austrian Grand Prix – but right now our focus is on what we have at this point in time.”

However, regarding 2017, Horner added: “That could be a completely different ball game.”