MOTORSPORT: Ferrari power next year for Ricciardo?

Daniel Ricciardo’s next Formula 1 car most likely will have a Ferrari power unit.

Red Bull Racing has quietly but formally flagged that it wants to sever ties with Renault, even though the parties have a contract until the end of next year.

Renault is expected to accept RBR’s request, as it is poised to buy back the Lotus team it previously owned and become a fully-fledged F1 constructor again.

It won two world titles in that capacity with Fernando Alonso in the middle of last decade, then supplied the V8s with which RBR and Sebastian Vettel won four consecutive titles from 2010-2013.

Mercedes-Benz, which has dominated the two seasons of V6 hybrids, has ruled out supplying RBR with its power units.

World champion Lewis Hamilton, set for a third world title after his seventh win of this season at Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, was strongly opposed to RBR getting Mercedes power.

And now, according to Autosport.com, Mercedes parent Daimler’s chairman Dieter Zetsche has stomped on any talk of such a deal.

Honda, which this year became the fourth power unit supplier in F1, is not an option for RBR. The Honda unit has been sadly uncompetitive in the McLaren cars.

McLaren wants Honda’s undivided focus, although the Japanese company may be open to supplying backmarker team Manor Marussia as a way of getting more data to assist its development.

Ricciardo, winner of three GPs last year with Renault power, already has used seven of the French company’s under-powered and unreliable units this season without much success.

He has had one podium this year but neither Red Bull RB11 has led a lap.

Ricciardo enjoyed Ferrari power in his two years racing for Red Bull’s junior team, Toro Rosso, in 2012-13.

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has said the Italian company famously symbolised by the black Prancing Horse would have no problems supplying RBR.

Nor is Arrivabene worried that Red Bull could threaten Ferrari’s own success using its power units.

“Competition is nice when you have a stronger competitor,” Arrivabene said.

“For that reason I don’t have a problem.

“They (RBR) have big names, with Adrian Newey as chief designer, and it is easy to think that if you give them the engine they will build a scary chassis, which means they will be really competitive.

“[But] concerning my team, my engineers and aerodynamicists know their own jobs.

“This doesn’t mean tomorrow morning we will give our engines to Red Bull or Toro Rosso.

“But I don’t see any kind of problem to give our engine to any other team or be scared of the competition before they start.

“This is not the right spirit of competition or what Ferrari represents. We fight with everybody.”

Apart from its factory cars for Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari this year is supplying Swiss team Sauber and British-based Manor.

Already next year it will add new American team Haas as a customer.

Supplying RBR as well could be worth many more millions of dollars to Ferrari – and may give it some leverage if it wanted to unlock Ricciardo from RBR as a replacement for Raikkonen at the end of next season.