Christian Horner claims Ferrari and Mercedes did what they could to push Red Bull out of Formula One.
The reason?
“Our performance in the middle sector at Spa seemed to spook a few people, around the time that we were discussing with Mercedes,” says Horner, adding, “and our performance in Singapore seemed to totally spook Ferrari”.
Even if this were true, it was Red Bull’s threat to leave Formula One which offered Mercedes and Ferrari the opportunity make life difficult for Red Bull. Horner’s this theory is all well and good, except for one simple fact. Red Bull racing and Toro Rosso had contracts with Renault for engine supply in 2016. No one could in fact force them out of the sport.
The praxis continues. Apparently “Dietrich became fairly disillusioned with Formula 1”, adds the Milton Keynes boss, “and understandably so. Deals that he believed were in place that were reneged on and inevitably he was pretty upset and pissed off.”
Mmm. But wasn’t all this after Red Bull threatened to quit Formula One?
And there’s more says Christian. “When you look at what he’s invested in the sport in two grand prix teams, the circuit, all the young driver programmes… I think at one point he felt that he was being forced out, and if people didn’t want Red Bull to be in Formula 1, why should he be there and commit the funding that the group does?”
Red Bull claimed recently that the F1 sponsorship and marketing now funded the extra Red Bull budget over and above the cash received by F1? So what is Mateschitz actually spending these days?
Horner goes on to claim, Mateschitz was “personally affronted by how other teams conducted themselves,” according to Autosport. Apparently, the fizzy drinks billionaire conducts his business on the shake of a hand reveals the Milton Keynes boss. He believed following a meeting with Niki Lauda he had agreed to buy Mercedes engines in 2016. Lauda claims the handshake was just a goodbye.
Yet, are we really to believe this notion of a gentleman’s agreement being Mateschitz modus operandi? Wouldn’t the handshake with Mercedes mean that Mateschitz was then in breach of his current agreement with Renault for 2016?
Mr. Horner then concludes that all this is the fault of the regulations. “You can understand why Mercedes and Ferrari wouldn’t be particularly keen to give their biggest asset to a competitive rival team,” he says. “But this is why the rules need looking at because it can’t be right that a group of manufacturers can get together and say we’re happy to see Red Bull go to the wall.”
And here the Ecclestone anti-manufacturer polemic rears its head once again from the mouth of his devotee.
Back in the real world… No group of manufacturers set out to ‘see Red Bull go to the wall’. Red Bull had a contract for an engine for 2016 – with a manufacturer called Renault.
And finally, Niki Lauda is a jolly good chap eh Christian? Better than that bas%^&d Toto huh!
“Niki Lauda tried his hardest to make it happen and unfortunately Toto was particularly un-keen to see Mercedes power in the back of a Red Bull car,” says Horner.
Funny how black is really white and in Red Bull land it is also dotted with yellow and pink spots.
Man you’ve got to love Christian Horner, the guy really does live in a make believe world.
I always thought that Niki was a non executive director of Merc F1. Doesn’t that mean he is not the one to make deals with? As for Merc and Ferrari treating RB badly what about Red Bull quitting the F1 teams association because Bernie gave them money???? They were not being very loyal to their fellow teams.
I am sure we could all go on and on and on about how Red Bull, Ferrari, Merc, Bernie, FIA etc all look after their own interests and spin every situation in their own favour!!!
Keep this Red Bull and Horner soap opera coming.
It’s funny Horner never mentions McLaren, who are the real comparison for Red Bull. McLaren went out and recruited an engine supplier, who’s PU is a really daft piece of crap and, they are keeping the whining to a minimum, focus on the prize. Red Bull had the winning-est engine supplier in F1, had a bad year and threw them out like they were nobody’s, rather than sticking it out and clawing their way back to the top.
I fully support the manufacturers to supply who they want, but those they supply should get the same pu as the manufacturer. One spec under seal at a time.
The real problem and why my young nieces and nephews don’t give a damn about what their uncle is watching, is that F1 has indeed become more and more boring over the years. The only exciting bit of the race was the start and you could then go out and do something else before checking the finish to see who had won the race. No need to waste precious time. It doesn’t really bother me what Red Bull have to say but what they say is right. It is not in Mercedes’ nor Ferrari ‘s interest to create excitement for the fans, so this is no longer a sport, because by definition sport stands for competing. Just imagine what would have happened if both Max and Carlos had not been in F1 this year, I bet the tv-ratings would have dropped even more
Red Bull behave as though F1 should be grateful that they deem to honour it with their presence. When they were winning all was rosy, but like a spoilt little rich kid, when they weren’t winning they threw their toys out the pram.
After the way Red Bull rubbished Renault publically this year I doubt Mercedes or Ferrari were ever going to risk that sort of publicity. I also somehow doubt that Renault were happy to provide engines for 2016, hence the re-branding.
I suspect Bernie E applied some pressure to get Renault to provide the engines and the re-branding was the compromise they required.
I personally find the attiude of Red Bull management and certain of their engineering staff to be totally unacceptable. Every time Horner starts whining you wish he would do what his new wife did – retire early.
Lots of people in the small world of F1 like to re-write history through their very own magnifying and heavily distorting spectacles. The Red Bull trio is no exception. Some time ago when Ron Dennis took a step back I thought that hormone-stinking psychopaths with impossibly big ego would finally be confined behind the curtains. Well, I was wrong. I also thought nobody would ever join Ron in that superleague. I was wrong again. While Dennis is superior when it comes to the extremely careful choice of words used for his “communication” the bunch at RB is not bad at all! Too bad the fans never get the chance to slap them in the face! I wonder if ever a journalist might come up to ask these guys if they actually believe what they say in public. Not on every occasion of course, I mean just once a year.
Crushing indictment of Red Bull’s methods. Mateschitz is a ruthless individual, perpetuated by Marko and their methodology of winning at all costs is far more damaging to F1 than any ruleset.
This new kid on the block image they’ve painted themselves is just a smokescreen to excuse 2 old farts and their team to kick the sport and it’s competitors into submission for their own advantage.
They simply need to go.
JET, you still around and breathing?