No engine price drop for 2014 - Renault

Renault will look to reduce the price of its new turbo V6 engines over time, the French carmaker’s president Carlos Ghosn said.

Reports have indicated that Renault’s new engine for 2014 is millions more expensive than any of its rival F1 suppliers, causing Williams to jump ship to Mercedes.

It is also rumoured that, while Caterham looks set to stay with Renault, Lotus is in talks with Ferrari.

Already signed up with Renault for 2014 are Red Bull’s two teams, including Toro Rosso.

"We will not be surprised if the third one will come soon," said Ghosn. "We may have more but we don’t need more.

"There is some concern about the cost of the engine, I understand it, but our commitment is to work to reduce these costs," Ghosn said in Monaco at the weekend.

He insisted, however, that the initial cost of the engines to customers - believed to be over EUR 20 million per season - will not be reduced.

"We are not going to drop the price for anybody for 2014," said Ghosn.

"But our commitment is every year we will be working hard to make this engine more efficient, to reduce the costs and then try to pass part of the cost reduction to the users."