Mateschitz pressures Renault to sort alternator issues

Dietrich Mateschitz, owner of the Red Bull Racing F1 team has spoken out about his frustration with Renault's reliability issues. The alternator on the Renault engines have failed repeatedly this season, and not only for the Red Bull team.

Renault's current alternator is supplied by Magnetti Marelli, an Italian company that has a long history together with Renault and many Formula One teams. The alternators used this year however seem fragile, with the first obvious failures being those for Vettel and Grosjean, both at Valencia when they were in positions to win the race.

Renault Sport therefore adapted the alternators by lengthening the stator by 1cm, but since then, the Pirelli test car and Red Bull yet again have suffered more failures.

Mateschitz was quoted by Germany's Auto Bild Motorsport, saying that "I want Renault to separate from its supplier Magneti Marelli and use someone else".

Although Renault Sport has claimed it is inclined to consider Red Bull's request, a switch so far seems unlikely given the experience Magnetti Marelli has with F1 racing.