Mateschitz criticizes Renault and declares himself out of the title fight

Dietrich Mateschitz contradicted Red Bull officials and drivers and admitted that the team is no longer fighting for the 2009 world championship.

After the poor performance in Monza, Sebastian Vettel has slipped to 26 points behind championship leader Jenson Button, while Red Bull now has 40 points less than Brawn with 4 races to go.

When asked by Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten whether Red Bull's chances were over, the team owner said: “Actually, they were already over even before Monza. This is due to the inferiority of our engines and the fact that the rules limit the number of engines that can be used during the year to 10.”

Mateschitz did not dismiss the possibility of new victories but stated that "reaching the top two positions with our two drivers four times in a row is unthinkable."

The Austrian then continued to fire at the Renault. “Now we can't even run much during free practice because we don't have any spare engines, which is a strange condition for the competition.”

It is hoped that Red Bull will use Mercedes engines next year, but according to Auto Motor und Sport a contract with Ferrari to supply engines has also been signed.

A final decision is expected in the next few days.

Finally, Mateschitz was asked if he was satisfied with Red Bull's performance this season and the billionaire replied: “Definitely. Our improvement this year has been enormous. But the best car and the strongest driver are sometimes not enough,” he added.

Andre' Cotta