Infiniti, part of the Renault-Nissan alliance, have been with Formula One team Red Bull since 2011 and title sponsors since 2013.

Reuters/London


Former world champions Red Bull and Nissan’s Infiniti premium car brand will end their Formula One partnership at the end of this year, the team said in a statement on Sunday. Infiniti, part of the Renault-Nissan alliance, have been with Red Bull since 2011 and title sponsors since 2013.
The relationship had looked to be on borrowed time after the team fell out with Renault as a result of the poor performance of the V6 turbo hybrid power unit provided by the French manufacturer. The car marque could now follow Renault, who announced last week that they were buying struggling Lotus and returning as a full works team. Red Bull, who won four successive world drivers’ and constructors’ titles with Renault engines, tried and failed to secure an alternative engine for 2016 and have ended up with a compromise instead.
The team announced last week that their 2016 power unit would be still provided by Renault but branded with the name of new Swiss luxury watch partner Tag-Heuer. “The team today announces that its commercial partnership with Infiniti will conclude at the end of 2015,” Red Bull said in a statement.
“Red Bull and Renault have reached a mutual and amicable agreement that will see the French car manufacturer continue to supply the team with engines for the 2016 Formula One season, and this new agreement does not cover any marketing activity for the Renault-Nissan Alliance.”
Media reports have suggested the Infiniti deal was worth some 40 million euros ($43.53 million) a year to Red Bull, and possibly more. Together, Red Bull and Infiniti won three drivers’ and constructors’ titles as well as 35 Grands Prix wins, 37 pole positions and 80 podiums.
“They became the title sponsor of the team in 2013 where Infiniti enjoyed greater visibility than any other manufacturer in the sport,” said team principal Christian Horner.
 
Renault to pay Lotus debts by end of year
French car maker Renault aims to complete its takeover of the Lotus Formula One team on Dec. 16 and pay creditors, including Britain’s tax authorities, by the end of the year, the High Court heard yesterday.
All parties in a protracted case brought against struggling Lotus by the Revenue and Customs authority over unpaid tax, with other creditors also represented, agreed to a further adjournment to Dec. 21.
“We are in a different territory now,” a lawyer for the team told the court. “You got away with it...or rather, it has been got away with,” commented the judge, Mr Justice Birss, after hearing none of the creditors objected to the adjournment that he said was clearly in the best interests of all parties. The alternative would have been to put Lotus into administration. Renault, currently an engine supplier to former world champions Red Bull, announced last week they would be returning to Formula One as a full constructor by taking a controlling stake in Lotus.
Lotus, formerly owned by Renault before a race-fixing scandal broke in 2009, have limped to the finish line this season with current owners, Luxembourg-based Genii, injecting only enough cash to keep the team alive. Bailiffs impounded their cars after the Belgian Grand Prix in August and the team were denied access to the paddock hospitality in Japan due to unpaid bills.
Lotus chief executive Matthew Carter, who attended the hearing, said the remaining matters were merely procedural.
“It’s the 16th for the SPA (share purchase agreement) and they (Renault) are agreeing to pay all the creditors by the 31st,” he told Reuters outside the courtroom.
“So I guess when we come back on the 21st it will be to ensure that the SPA has been signed.