Whilst Renault's relationship with Red Bull has faltered, sister outfit Toro Rosso continues its flirtation with the French manufacturer.

In the wake of the season opener it looked very much as though the championship winning relationship between Red Bull and Renault was heading towards a ‘conscious uncoupling’, such was the ill-tempered public squabbling between the two.

Yet at the same time, sister team Toro Rosso,, which has enjoyed an altogether better start to the season, with the same power units, looked set to increase the intensity of its relationship with Renault.

Following weeks of speculation over Renault buying an existing team, speaking in Malaysia, Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost admitted he welcomed the idea.

"I think this would be a fantastic opportunity for Toro Rosso to make the next step forward," said the Austrian, "because the team wants to be established in the future within the first five in the constructors' championship and to be part of a manufacturer, to work together with a manufacturer, to be owned by a manufacturer would be exactly this step forward which the team needs to be established in the first five."

However, Renault was giving little away, Cyril Abiteboul claiming that in the same way the French company could buy a team it could also opt to walk away from the sport entirely.

Fact is, whilst Renault has enjoyed success in F1, both as a supplier of engines and as a team in its own right, it has never fully capitalised on that success.

Mindful of this, Helmut Marko, Red Bull's motorsport consultant, the man who calls the shots on behalf of the man with the purse-strings, Dietrich Mateschitz, has admitted that the relationship between Toro Rosso and Renault could be taken forward.

"Renault are spending a lot of money on this power unit," he told the official F1 website, "not as much as Mercedes but a significant amount, and are confronted with the same issues that we (Red Bull) have: their F1 involvement has to pay off.

"Add to that that Renault feels under-represented on the marketing side," he continued, "so there are considerations to either buy Toro Rosso or more likely give them a yellow livery to have a better marketing platform. But of course the figures have to correspond."

Asked how this might in turn affect the relationship between Toro Rosso and her big sister, he intriguingly replied: "Such a scenario would only take off if the close relationship between Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso stays intact, within the rules.

"Red Bull Racing's headcount is much higher, the equipment of the team is more sophisticated, so without the know-how of Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso would be hurt in its competitiveness. So as I just said, a close interaction of both teams is paramount to such a scenario."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by nonickname, 06/04/2015 10:23

"Get real. That takes out 2 teams,Like we have so many on the grid."

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2. Posted by F One, 03/04/2015 22:55

"Red Bull need to just go away."

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3. Posted by Yeyox02, 02/04/2015 23:09

"It seems that being part of Red Bull is like a curse."

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4. Posted by Jonno, 02/04/2015 19:06

"Marko's cunning plan - he wants free engines for both teams in exchange for a couple of cans of paint. How much longer will Renault remain the fall guys?
"

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Marko hints at Renault-based livery for Toro Rosso

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