Renault 'stopped listening to Horner in 2015'

Cyril Abiteboul offered a withering response to Red bull and Christian Horner's latest barrage of criticism, saying Renault stopped paying attention to the Red Bull team principal's complaints three years ago. Red Bull were incensed as Max Verstappen was forced to retire on the fifth lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix with a power unit issue.

An MGU-K failure preceded Verstappen's retirement, with his and Horner's anger laid bare for all to see.

Verstappen shouted over team radio: "What a fucking joke all the fucking time with this shit!"

Horner added to Sky Sports: "We pay multi millions of pounds for these engines, for a first class or state-of-the-art product and you can see that it's quite some way below that."

Often more placid, Abiteboul has come out swinging, with Red Bull having confirmed their 2019 switch to Honda as a supplier.

VIDEO: Verstappen's FURIOUS uncensored team radio

According to Abiteboul, Red Bull have refused to take an upgraded MGU-K, which he claims has ran without fault on Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr's cars since the Monaco Grand Prix.

When Horner's latest rant was put to him, the Frenchman was similarly dismissive.

"Our bosses have stopped reading what Christian Horner is saying about us since 2015," he said.

"It's very clear that we don't want to have any dealings with them any more. It's very clear it's done.

"They will have their engine partner that will be paying a hell of a lot of money to get their product on board, and I wish them good luck. I have nothing else to say."