Renault has warned late-paying Formula One teams that they risk having their engine supply withheld if matters are not resolved in the next few weeks.

Speaking to reporters at the Spanish Grand Prix, fifth race of the season, Renault Sport F1 head Jean-Michel Jalinier indicated the French engine maker was losing patience.

Renault supply world champions Red Bull and sister team Toro Rosso as well as cash-strapped Lotus and tail-enders Caterham, owned by Malaysia’s AirAsia aviation entrepreneur Tony Fernandes.

Jalinier did not mention any customers by name but the Red Bull teams, owned by the Austrian energy drink company and billionaire founder Dietrich Mateschitz, are unlikely to be behind with payments.

“Our resources are coming from two sources: One is Renault, and we have been able to secure the right resources... and the other part of it is coming from the teams, because we are selling the engines to the teams,” he said.

“On this part I must say we are not at an acceptable situation, because some of the teams are just late in payments, and at the time you need to spend resources to catch up you cannot afford to have those (late) payments.”

The new V6 turbo hybrid power units are considerably more expensive than last year’s now-defunct V8s and Renault started the season playing catch-up with rivals Mercedes well ahead on performance.

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