His 85th birthday just over a week away, Bernie Ecclestone remains as feisty as ever.

Ahead of the back-to-back races which see Mexico return to the calendar after a 23-year hiatus, the F1 supremo has sent out a clear warning to Dietrich Mateschitz as the Austrian billionaire ponders the future of his two teams.

Without an engine deal for 2016, certainly one that ticks all the required boxes, Mateschitz is said to be close to pulling the plug on both Red Bull and Toro Rosso.

Unhappy with Renault, Mateschitz has unsuccessfully courted both Mercedes and Ferrari, and with neither willing to yield to his (excessive) demands, looks set to walk away from the sport.

However, Ecclestone has warned that such a move would not go unchallenged, reminding Mateschitz that his teams are contracted to continue racing until 2020.

"Red Bull could stand up in court and say: 'Yes, we have a commitment, we do, but we haven't got an engine'," Ecclestone told the Independent.

"My argument would be: 'You signed the contract to compete. You should have made sure when you signed the contract that you had an engine. Your team was supposed to do this.'"

Echoing comments made by Max Mosley at the weekend, when the former FIA president warned that the engine manufacturers now control the sport, Ecclestone said: "If Ferrari only agreed to supply one customer engine, Mercedes only agreed to supply one, nobody would have any engines. That's exactly what the situation is. We need an independent engine supplier. I've been on about this now for a year and a half."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Yeyox02, 20/10/2015 22:31

"What is the exact role of Herr Marko in RB? I think it is or it was his duty to find an egine supplier that fits his boss exigencies when the divorce with Renault did start looming on the horizon last year."

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2. Posted by Tweek, 20/10/2015 16:03

"Next years red bull team wil consist of a 1/2 developed chassis with leftover power units from this season, cars arriving at the circuit being towed by the drivers track day style, 1 qualifying lap guaranteed outside 107%, and a single race lap so slow the medical car passes them before pit n park........ Ohh yea, and no contractual responsibility fines. What a show !
Red Bull may have trash talked their way into a corner with the engine suppliers, but that doesn't leave them devoid of options. All they really have to do is show up. ( though I do imagine qualifying last for the next 4 years might be a bit embarrassing at the Red Bull Ring). "

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3. Posted by scf1fan, 20/10/2015 15:35

"I would have a lot more sympathy for the situation if Mr. Mateshitz and Co. were a team like Marussia. But RB could have easily (at least from a programmatic stand point) gotten together with any number of companies (most notably Cosworth) and developed a new PU/supplier.
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For BE to complain about the PU suppliers though is, unfortunately, a bit rich too. Hey BE, you have 4 suppliers!! They should easily be able to supply 12 teams; IF the teams want that supplier's PUs. (There would be a short line at the Honda booth I would think . . . ) It's the rules you (and to a degree MM) set in place to try to control the costs of F1 that have back fired. Once you lock in a PU spec, for good or bad, what did you expect? Parity right out of the box? Near parity between unequal PUs can be achieved, but not with the rules you have. Add a 1/4 to a 1/2 kilo per point through the season and the racing will be get closer as the season goes on.
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On a more fundamental level, do we really want a situation like it use to be where most of the entrants were powered by Cosworth? (Except for Ferrari of course.) The one good thing about the Cosworth situation then was that they seemed to be willing to supply all comers equally; since they didn't have a works team. (Or at least as equally as the teams' check books and sense of risk allowed.) "

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4. Posted by SideGlance, 20/10/2015 13:38

"We must admit, RB has really done this whole engine thing VERY stupidly, like a small child pouting for more candy - like Cartmen, 'screw you guys I am going home'. So good riddance RB !! Stupid Is and Stupid DID !!"

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Ecclestone prepared to take on Red Bull

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