Beyond the Flag
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Formula 1: Top 5 storylines to follow over the summer break

By Asher Fair

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - JULY 29: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes WO9 and Valtteri Bottas driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes WO9 (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - JULY 29: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes WO9 and Valtteri Bottas driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes WO9 (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /
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BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – JULY 29: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB14 TAG Heuer (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – JULY 29: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB14 TAG Heuer (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /

Relationship between Renault and Red Bull Racing

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was forced to retire in the Hungarian Grand Prix, a race in which he very well could have been a contender for a podium position. He was forced to retire on just the sixth lap of the 70-lap race the 14-turn, 2.722-mile (4.381-kilometer) Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Hungary.

Verstappen’s retirement came as a result of another MGU-K failure, meaning Red Bull Racing have now experienced five retirements between their two drivers as a result of mechanical issues this season.

Verstappen, who has earned one victory so far this season, was also forced to retire with mechanical issues in the British Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo, the team’s other driver who has earned two victories so far this season, was forced to retire with mechanical issues in the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Austrian Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix.

With Red Bull Racing already having confirmed that they will be switching from Renault engines to Honda engines next season, the relationship between Red Bull Racing and Renault is possibly the worst that it has been since their partnership began back in the 2007 Formula 1 season.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner lashed out at Renault Sport managing director Cyril Abiteboul, claiming that he would wait and see what excuse Abiteboul would come up with for Verstappen’s retirement, and Abiteboul responded by saying that Renault stopped reading what Horner says back in 2015.

It will be interesting to see if anything good between the two parties happens over the summer break and what issues, if any, will take place between them throughout the final nine races of the 2018 season. Will either of Red Bull Racing’s drivers win another race this year?

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