Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel hopes Renault stays in Formula One next season and says it is "sad" to see the company on the verge of ending its once-dominant partnership with former team Red Bull.
Red Bull's relationship with Renault has been strained since the introductions of V6 turbos and broke down completely this year following the French company's failure to produce a competitive engine to match Mercedes and a resurgent Ferrari. Red Bull looks set to terminate its contract with Renault for 2016 and revert back to Ferrari engines, while Renault's options are to either buy out the Lotus team and become a factory team or quit the sport altogether.
All four of Vettel's world championships came when Red Bull and Renault dominated the sport between 2010 and 2013, and he is sad to see that partnership end in such acrimony.
"It's sad to hear, because it was part of the majority of the partnership [at Red Bull]," Vettel said about Red Bull and Renault's imminent divorce. "We had very successful years, which unfortunately now gets forgotten very quickly.
"Renault has done a fantastic job in the past, supplying us with a strong engine, supplying us with the latest technique which was required to be competitive when we had the era of blown exhausts. We had one of the best ones, the most advanced, so there's a lot of things people tend to forget now because of the situation. But I hope they stay in the sport."
Looking ahead to this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, Vettel hopes to continue his recent form as the best of the rest behind Mercedes.
"Our target is to be on the podium, which is difficult because Mercedes has the strongest package at the moment and if nothing goes wrong they have two cars on the podium, then there is not much space left. But we've been pretty good at getting our maximum and getting that last step on the podium.
"I love the track, it's a great track, and I'm looking forward to the weekend with a car I feel well so hopefully I can keep that up and have the confidence around here also."