Red Bull, the four-time F1 world champion, has issued its most "direct threat yet" to quit F1, according to Kevin Eason of the LONDON TIMES. It came "not from" Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner "but in an editorial on the company website that did not mince words," under the headline, "Formula One withdrawal takes shape." Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull's "apparently impatient owner," has in the past suggested that he would pull both his Red Bull and Toro Rosso teams from the world championship "if they could not find a better engine supplier than Renault." But now Red Bull has "become caught up in the swirl" around the French carmaker with "no one sure whether they will buy the Lotus team or withdraw from F1 completely." Either way, Red Bull needs a new engine supplier because it has severed contracts with Renault. Mercedes has said no to the "prospect of giving Red Bull engines," while Ferrari appears to be willing but is "making noises" that its new customer "may have to make do with a slightly under-powered engine so they are not a threat to the Scuderia's world championship ambitions" (LONDON TIMES, 9/23).
