Cyril Abiteboul says "Red Bull is what it is today thanks to Renault"

Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul has said that Red Bull "is what it is today thanks to Renault." The Frenchman believes that the work that Renault did for the Formula 1 team have been crucial to the teams success in recent years. 

"One thing we can give credit to Christian [Horner, Red Bull team boss] and Red Bull is that they are fantastic at communication strategy," Abiteboul said to Autosport. "Communication is part of this world, it's part of Formula 1, it's part of your strategy and your tactics.

"It's not the first team and it's not the last team to use all the weaponry of this world, and frankly you guys [the media], to influence what is going on.

"I was reading yesterday that Max [Verstappen] is happy to take an engine penalty - amazing!

"That's part of this world, but I don't want to lose sight of the fact, and I would concur with Christian in relation to that, our engine was not at the required level in 2014 and '15.

"There are mitigating circumstances. You know, we were extremely happy and Renault has contributed to making Red Bull what it is today by winning four championships in a row.

"From a financial perspective with sponsors, from a technology perspective with talent, recruitment, Red Bull is what it is today thanks also to Renault."

Renaults relationship with Red Bull turned bad in 2014 and since then the two have been firing shots at each other in the media. It is true that Renault was key to their success in the 2010-2013 period but they will hope that they can improve their own engine for their own team in the seasons to come.