Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has launched a scathing attack on Renault, demanding changes following another wretched performance he’s described as “unacceptable”.

Just a fortnight after Daniel Ricciardo’s triumph in Canada, that was swiftly forgotten as Red Bull were embarrassed on their own circuit as Formula One returned to Austria after an 11-year absence.

Just two minutes into the race at the Red Bull Ring, Sebastian Vettel lost all drive with his car, and came within seconds of retiring as he pulled off the track at one point.

Remarkably, the car somehow fired back into life, but by that stage Vettel was a lap-and-a-half adrift and with no chance of finishing in the points.

When the reigning four-times champion ran into the back of Esteban Gutierrez in his Sauber on lap 29, necessitating a front-wing change, the team opted to end Vettel’s misery six laps later to save the car.

In the wake of Vettel’s early electronics issue, teammate Ricciardo was instructed not to use the power-boost button, so compromising his race as the Australian could only finish eighth.

Following the race Horner pulled no punches with regard to power-unit supplier Renault as he said: “It’s frustrating we’re in the situation we are.

“We’ve obviously had a lot of success with Renault. We’ve won all our races and championships with them, but the situation isn’t improving at the moment.

“The reliability is unacceptable. The performance is unacceptable.

“There needs to be change at Renault. It can’t continue like this. It’s not good for Renault and not good for Red Bull.”