Red Bull have been warned by their engine provider Renault will not give any extension to the FIA's deadline for a 2019 engine deal.
Red Bull have the option of staying with Renault, or moving to Honda for the 2019 season, who supply Red Bull's junior team Toro Rosso's engine.
The former world champions held its first formal talks with the Japanese manufacturer in Baku last weekend.
The current regulations state that engine manufacturers must confirm their customers for the following year by May 15th. That deadline can be extended if the governing body and all engine suppliers are in agreement. It was because of that loophole that McLaren managed the late switch from Honda power to Renault power for this season and Toro Rosso from Renault to Honda.
Renault's managing director Cyril Abiteboul says the deadline must be adhered to, saying:
“We have to stick to it, we have to for a very simple reason, which is that we need to order parts.
“The problem is that people tend to amalgamate what happened last year when we changed very late our customers, but we only swapped customers.
"So actually we decided to allocate, to deviate, engines that were produced for Toro Rosso and to make them available for McLaren, but the parts for those engines were already ordered.
"I have to order now, the longest lead time items for next year, so what do I do: three or two?
“Red Bull will have to cope with it.”“Red Bull will have to cope with it.”
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