The 2024 Formula One season so far has been overshadowed by the off track shenanigans happening around the paddock. The president of the FIA was accused and cleared of fixing the results of a race, Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes and most recently the announcement of Adrian Newey’s imminent departure from the Red Bull F1 team.

Yet the backdrop to ,much of this has been the internal fighting at the Red Bull parent company since the death of its charismatic founder Didi Mateschitz. There remains the whiff of a contrived complaint brought against Christian Horner originating from the minority Austrian contingent who were thought to want him out of his position.

 

 

 

Red Bull battle lines drawn

Horner in turn has been backed by the Thai majority shareholder despite complaints from Jos Verstappen claiming he is ‘tearing the team apart.’ On hearing the news Adrian Newey was leaving the Red Bull F1 team, Max’s father snorted: “The team is in danger of falling apart. I was already afraid of that earlier this year. It is important for internal peace that the key figures remain on board,” claimed De Telegraaf as the Miami weekend was getting into full swing.

“That is not the case now. Newey is leaving and earlier this year it also looked like Helmut would be sent away. That is not good for the future.”

Stepping back for a moment it feels like the Newey announcement has brought matters to a head amongst the warring factions. Whilst Newey didn’t cite the internal troubles as a catalyst for his decision to quit, he did imply it was a factor along with feeling “tired.”

“I don’t know, there comes a point where I just felt, as Forrest Gump said, ‘I’m feeling a little bit tired’.”

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Newey hints internal struggle played on his mind

When asked how long he had been thinking about his decision, he said: “A little while now, if I am honest.

“I guess over the winter a little bit and then as events have unfolded this year, I thought… I am in the very lucky position where I don’t need to work to live.”

Newey appeared to be about to spill the beans on the “as events have unfolded”, then stopped short from elaborating as if thinking better of it.

Newey would though have found it difficult to fit in amongst the battling parties and the impression of the Austrian’s v Horner battle lines would have forced Adrian to walk a tight line. The notion of a division along these lines wears not helped when Oliver Minztlaff who heads up the Austrian contingent failed to publicly back Christian Horner when the media frenzy was at its zenith in Jeddah.

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Austrian CEO backs Horner for long term

Mintzlaff generally keeps a low profile but attended this season’s race in Saudi Arabia and though he was pictured with Horner he offered no formal support for the Red Bull team principal.

Now in a rare interview with German publication Bild, Mintzlaff has thrown his support behind Horner stating he believes he will lead the Red Bull F1 team to success for a long time into the future.

“I am convinced of that,” said Mintzlaff. “He only has the team’s success in mind and is a very good CEO.”

Of course when a sporting team is on top of the rest, there’s only one direction it can ultimately go – which is down – and with Newey announcing his departure from the Red Bull team, they must keep winning. Of course Mintzlaff is not happy over losing Newey, but believes the technical structures in place are solid.

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Timing of Newey announcement odd

“Adrian has done great things here over the years and played a big part in us winning 13 world championship titles,” he said.

“It’s obviously a shame that he’s leaving us, but we discussed it in a very fair and respectful dialogue. What he leaves behind is not only a unique legacy but also a structure that he helped to build.

“Of course, we will miss him – also as a person – but tomorrow we will still know how to build a very fast Formula 1 car.”

The timing of the Newey announcement has raised eyebrows in certain quarters particularly as the new 2026 FIA F1 car design regulations are almost agreed – and there’s nothing like a good regulation change to get Adrian’s genius flowing. Had Newey completed his contract as signed last year, this would have seen him giving input into the 2026 Red Bull car.

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Red Bull into the unknown

Yet even the biggest change ever in F1 where both engines and cars will be all new is not something that concerns Mintzlaff.

“In 2026 we want to continue where we are currently: at the top of Formula 1,” he said. Of course, there is no guarantee of this, but while we have proven that we can handle major rule changes, other teams have not managed to close the gap for three years.

“Max [Verstappen] will also have noticed this, and it makes me look totally positive into the future. We haven’t just been preparing for 2026 since yesterday.

“Sure, building your own engine is a big task and challenge, but we are confident that we can master this step. This is the next stage of development for Red Bull.”

Of course no customer team in the history of the sport has become a power unit manufacturer and so its reasonable to question just how competitive the Red Bull Powertrains for 2026 will be.

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Miami F1 mystery strikes agai

Formula One is making its third visit to Miami since the inaugural race was held back in 2022. The track around the Miami Dolphins Hard Rock Stadium was resurfaced for its second coming and a number of minor layout changes were made too.

Now in year three, the mystery of a new circuit, how abrasive the asphalt is, what is the temperature range of the surface runs between, average tyre degradation – are all things the teams now have gathered lots of data on and so conditions for the drivers should be less surprising… READ MORE