Q: I was watching the Monza pre-race before I left for work this morning, and I'm curious why Team Red Bull runs Renaults, and Scuderia Torro Rosso runs Ferraris, kinda odd since they have the same owner.
A: They are seperate teams under F1 rules, so it's not strange that they have different engine suppliers. Also, it got Red Bull out of contractual fix. They had signed a multi-year deal to buy Ferrari customer engines starting in 2006, but after the double Renault championship wins of 2005-06 they wanted that engine instead for 2007 and signed a deal with them too. Farming out the supposedly inferior Ferrari engine to the Toro Rosso team from 2007 (they had previously used the Cosworths left over from Red Bull's pre-Ferrari contract in 2006) got them out of a contractual mess. To clarify the progression: 2005: Red Bull Cosworth (Toro Rosso not yet owned by parent company) 2006: Red Bull Ferrari, Toro Rosso Cosworth 2007: Red Bull Renault, Toro Rosso Ferrari 2008: Red Bull Renault, Toro Rosso Ferrari