Red Bull Racing’s stunning success with Honda engines makes it easy to forget their rocky relationship with previous supplier Renault – a partnership that often left mechanics scrambling to keep cars running on race weekends.
Senior Engine Technician Calum Nicholas remembers those challenging days all too well.
“It seemed like it was chaos every week,” Nicholas says of the Renault era. “There was always something, always a situation where both car crews would be working on one car just to get it out.”
The Red Bull-Renault partnership started promisingly in 2007. Within four years, they were dominating Formula 1, winning both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships in 2010. That kicked off an impressive run of four straight title doubles.
Then everything changed.
F1’s switch to turbo-hybrid engines in 2014 exposed major weaknesses in Renault’s power units. As performance dropped, tensions rose.
Team principal Christian Horner began publicly criticizing Renault’s efforts, leading to a very public falling out with Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul. Poor results on track only made things worse.
By 2018, the relationship was beyond repair. Red Bull made the switch to Honda power units the following year.
The change has paid off spectacularly. Since partnering with the Japanese manufacturer, Red Bull has claimed four drivers’ titles and three constructors’ championships. More importantly for the mechanics, reliability has improved dramatically.
But Nicholas says the team’s ability to handle pressure was forged in those difficult years.
“Getting the job done in tight timeframes is something we’re quite good at,” he explains. He points to Max Verstappen‘s crash before the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix as a perfect example.
“The crew that repaired Max’s car after he hit the barrier on the way to the grid – that was a monumental effort,” Nicholas says. “There’s always going to be instances where you have to overcome adversity and get the job done.”
