Red Bull is considering a shock switch to Ferrari power, according to a media report on Wednesday.
Germany’s Sport Bild claims that, fed up with works partner Renault’s poor reliability and performance in the new ’power unit’ era, Red Bull has been in talks with its arch-rival Ferrari.
While a switch to Ferrari would be sensational, Red Bull has actually been powered by Maranello-built engines before, in 2006.
A year later, junior team Toro Rosso also began to use customer Ferrari power.
At the end of last year, Red Bull’s quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel moved to Ferrari, but he said recently he retains a good relationship with the energy drink company.
In its latest edition, Sport Bild claims that Ferrari is indeed willing to facilitate Red Bull and Toro Rosso’s return to Italian power for 2016.
However, the Red Bull-owned teams would reportedly have clear ’B’ status, including a specification of engine 20-30 horse power behind the works Ferrari team.
But Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko said: "Even a B-version of the Ferrari would be better than the A-version of the Renault."
Currently, both Red Bull teams are under contract to Renault for 2016, but it is believed a split could be facilitated by the French marque’s desire to return to full works team status, for instance by buying Lotus.