Red Bull set for Renault engine deal extension

Red Bull appears likely to extend its engine supply agreement with Renault Sport F1 through to the end of the current V8 regulations.

The sport looks likely to adopt turbocharged V6 engines for 2014 and beyond, and in the meantime Red Bull is enjoying a significant sponsorship deal with the Renault-linked Nissan brand’s Infiniti label.

Italian magazine Autosprint’s auto.it website said Red Bull is therefore looking to extend its current Renault deal "at least until 2013".

Red Bull’s technical boss Adrian Newey admitted this week that he is relieved he will not be working with a four-cylinder engine in 2013.

The AAP news agency quotes the Briton as revealing that F1 pushed ahead with the four-cylinder plan to help brands like Volkswagen enter the sport.

"They subsequently decided that no, they won’t bother after all thank you very much, and we were lumbered with a four-cylinder turbo," he said.

Newey also revealed that the V6 rules will feature a higher rev limit than the 12,000rpm proposed for the inline-fours.

But whether it is high enough to appease angry circuit promoters, who want the current 18,000 limit to remain in place, is unknown.

"The revs are still being debated," admitted Newey, "but it looks as if it will probably be around 14,000 or 16,000."