Apparently Renault are still to blame for Red Bull's 2019 pace struggles

Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko has claimed that the team's early season aerodynamic problems are partly the fault of former engine suppliers Renault. Marko's somewhat incendiary suggestion is that Red Bull's planning was based around a power unit inferior to the one they have ultimately worked with from Honda.

The Red Bull-Renault relationship grew increasingly fractious in the years that followed a dominant run of four successive drivers' and constructors' title doubles.

Renault's inability to keep pace with Mercedes and Ferrari in the V6 Hybrid era led to Red Bull eventually ditching them for the 2019 season and instead throwing in their lot with Honda.

Max Verstappen has finished in the top four of every race this season, albeit never truly competing for a race win at any time.

However, the likes of Marko and team principal Christian Horner have put none of the blame at Honda's door insisting the problems are Red Bull's own to fix, having apparently been partly brought on by Renault.

"So far, missing downforce was our problem," Marko told Auto Bild.

"The design of the car was due to the lack of engine performance of our former engine partner, so that we had to design for efficiency.

"So we have been losing time in the corners. But Honda has significantly increased its performance and we can now respond."

Honda brought it's Spec 2 engine to Baku last time out, an upgrade focused on improving reliability rather than performance.

Red Bull are bringing updates of their own to this weekend's race in Spain, with Horner suggesting they will be a case of "evolution, not revolution".

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