Red Bull Infiniti, well that's different

[cameraman]

So it seems that Renault could be considered to be Renault-Nissan if you want to look at the fine print. So if they rebadge the Renault spinner as an Infiniti then the team does not have to pay for the engines, Nissan picks up the tab. It seems that saves the team £8 or 9 million on the year.

[Insomniac]

What's the Red Bull connection?

[manic mechanic]

It's not as much a Red Bull Connection as it is the Nissan/Renault partnership.

Rebadging could "defray" Renault's corporate debt to F1 with a split to another known manufacturer, and "if" they are competitive, the ad $$$ generated could help the global brand (especially in the NA market where the Infiniti brand is better known).

With a 2.4l displacement limit, I could see an "F1/ 240z" association from the Asian end of the partnership to garner interest in the americas.

Badging it as an Infiniti is not the worst idea they could use... Anyone remeber the US spec LeCar??? :rofl: THAT is the Renault that most "casual viewers" remember (thankfully they forget the Alliance and the Winnebago LeSharo- powered by Renault among others that involved AMC and Chrysler).
I for one could forego all that pain and embrace a brand I trust in the world market.

Oh yeah... I drive a Nissan truck, and the wife drives an Infiniti G-35, BUT I SHOW NO BIAS....:p:

manic

[opinionated ow]

Renault owns 44% of Nissan but they share the same CEO-Carlos Ghosn. Ghosn is trying to take the Infiniti brand global-there is already a confirmed launch down here at some point this year. Makes sense really...

[Insomniac]

Ahhh, I confused the former Renault team with the engine. Now I see.

[Winston Wolfe]

not to mention the fact that Infiniti is looking to go global over the next few years, into markets like China, the Far East and other countries where F1 already races.
Infiniti gets to logo the teams, cars, merchandise, etc.... yet Renault gets credit for the powerplants.... seems like a worldwide marketing effort and depending on how much they are shelling out, a pretty decent one at that!

[manic mechanic]

not to mention the fact that Infiniti is looking to go global over the next few years, into markets like China, the Far East and other countries where F1 already races.
Infiniti gets to logo the teams, cars, merchandise, etc.... yet Renault gets credit for the powerplants.... seems like a worldwide marketing effort and depending on how much they are shelling out, a pretty decent one at that!

Funny you should point that out, my friend. The throttle bodies on my wife's G have "Renault" cast into them, although most of the powerplant design and testing was done by Nissan.

I concur on it being a great success in both capability and application... Both corporations could benefit greatly, and we as fans get a formidable by-product in the racing it provides.

It makes me wonder what Nissan/Renault can do with displacements on existing products through this development curve, because the only penalty they currently pay is in fuel economy :yuck:

manic

[Rogue Leader]

Its just a sponsorship for now, they have denied re-badging the engines.

[73B]

Apparently Infiniti gets to put its name all over the car and drivers, but the engine will remain Renault. Infiniti will devote some resources to engine development too, so eventually it will be an "Infiniti-Renault" of sorts. Fair enough, the companies are linked anyway, as someone pointed out earlier.

Infiniti wanting to get into F1 makes sense. They want to compete with Mercedes in many ways.

What puzzles me is the tie in with Red Bull. Yes they are the defending champions, but from a "brand alignment" perspective, would you ever put the two together?

You can say they want to attract a younger demo, but really, how young can they expect to go considering the price of the sheet metal they are peddling?

Maybe Red Bull will move aside... like Brawn and Mercedes?

Maybe Infiniti didn't have much choice since the other (Nissan) Renaults are tied up with Lotus1 and Lotus2 (car brands).

Williams would have been the best choice, but they are tied to Cosworth.

It's nice to see the brand in F1 regardless. They did OK in CanAm and CART if I remember correctly.

[racer2c]

It's nice to see the brand in F1 regardless. They did OK in CanAm and CART if I remember correctly.

They did some time in the early IRL but I don't recall them ever being in CART.