Red Bull's RB14 has "abandoned" Max Verstappen, causing him to lash out at the team's power unit supplier. That is the view of Bob Bell, chief technical officer of the French marque, with Red Bull's frustrations at the lack of Renault power causing them to jump ship in 2019.
Red Bull will take on Honda as a supplier next year, having spent much of the V6 Hybrid era bickering with Renault over their inability to keep pace with a dominant Mercedes and Ferrari.
Since Sebastian Vettel's glittering run between 2010-2013, Red bull have fallen out of title contention and Verstappen and teammate Daniel Ricciardo have shared just three grand prix wins this season – Verstappen's sole victory coming in Austria.
Verstappen's recent claim that Renault's new engine did not work at altitude tore the divide between the parties wider again, and Bell says his frustration at not being able to realise his full potential is behind the Dutchman's complaints.
"With Max, everything has to be done quickly because he is young and he is in a hurry," Bell told Ziggo Sport.
"He wants to win because he knows he has the potential to win. He is disappointed that his car is abandoning him and is blaming our engine.
"We make no difference between engines that we use for our own team and the engines that go to our customers.
"It could theoretically be that the way Red Bull puts the engine in the car has consequences for the performance, but perhaps they are just unlucky."