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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes that engine supplier Renault is roughly six months behind the development curve compared to rivals Mercedes - and insists the outfit has options for 2016.
Rumours have circulated in the paddock across the last few weeks that the reigning champions are considering ditching Renault once the current contract ends in 2015 - a rumour which Horner did not deny on Tuesday.
"The thing about a team like Red Bull is we always have options, and I'm not going to disclose what they are here," he said ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix.
"We want to run at the front, we want to be competitive, and in order to be competitive we have to have a sensible power unit.
"Of course we have had some discussion with Renault and they fully accept the situation that we are in is not where we should be.
"Obviously they are doing everything they can and applying the resources they have to try and improve that situation. Renault is very aware of what our position is and all we can do is help and support them going forward.
"Fuel is going to be a key area of development, Total are working hard on that and have things in the pipeline which looks encouraging. We are behind where the Mercedes teams are because of all the running they've done on track and with the dyno and so on, Renault is only just starting to catch up so we're probably where Mercedes were six months ago."
