Red Bull, Force India, to swap engines for 2011? – report

Red Bull is reportedly closing on a deal to be equipped with Mercedes engines for the 2011 season.

The German newspaper TZ reports that the move would involve the currently Mercedes-powered Force India team switching to Red Bull’s current engine supplier Renault.

Red Bull has been pushing for a Mercedes deal for some time, or minimally an allowance amid the engine development ‘freeze’ to bring the underpowered Renault V8 up to speed.

The report said Mercedes may be amenable to ending its relationship with Force India due to the Silverstone based team missing scheduled payments.

It is said that F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone is involved in the negotiations, as McLaren remains in a position to veto Mercedes’ alliances with customer teams.

Championship leader Mark Webber said on Thursday that the weakness of Red Bull’s otherwise dominant RB6 is its engine power.

“We know that running on long straights is not a strength of the car and hasn’t been for quite a few years and we know why,” said the Australian.

“We can still keep up at these tracks, but I think if we had to have 17 races in a championship, we wouldn’t choose Spa and Monza to have races at,” added Webber.

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