‘Engine progress a long-term plan’

Even in the face of Red Bull's latest quit threat, Renault's engine chief Cyril Abiteboul says the French manufacturer cannot force the pace of development.

Twice this season already members of Red Bull Racing have threatened to walk away from Formula 1.

First it was Helmut Marko and then Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, who reckons there is no point racing if he doesn't have a "competitive team" with a "competitve" power unit.

Renault, though, insist they are working on.

In a season where once again the French manufacturer is struggling for pace and reliability, Abiteboul says they are on the verge of introducing a more powerful unit but that the process cannot be rushed.

"Engine technology is not something you can easily analyse on a Sunday evening," he told Autosport.

"We need to take into account what's happening on Sunday but there is already a plan of what we want to do for the rest of the season.

"There is a new specification coming with more power, as we don't have enough power.

"It just increases our appetite to win but can it increase the way that we do it?

"I'm not quite sure as engines are a long-term plan. We don't want to rush into anything."