Jean Todt has thrown a spanner in the works of Red Bull Racing’s apparent plan to shift its Ferrari engine supply contract to Toro Rosso next year. With the energy drink-owned squad moving towards a Renault deal for 2007, team sources had hinted that the Ferrari hurdle could be overcome by simply telling Maranello chiefs to send the 2.4 litre V8s to nearby Faenza.

But Ferrari boss Todt suggested in Magny Cours that a solution might not be as simple as that. “If we have a contract,” he said, “we try to respect it, so we expect everybody to have the same attitude. ” Todt answered ‘yes’ when asked by reporters if Red Bull chiefs had brought up the topic with him, which indicates that the obvious difference of opinion is more than hypothetical.

He explained: “It’s something at the moment that we are not going to fulfil their wish, if this wish is confirmed…”

[GMM]

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