Last Updated on October 7 2024, 2:30 pm

Formula One is enjoying its second three weekend long break of the season but will return in a flurry of action. Three double header weekends are scheduled with a two week gap before the final run in of Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. A combination of the FIA’s financial regulations and the curve ball that was the ground effect car designs has shaken up the pecking order in F1 with even Mercedes winning three of the four races before the summer break.

Whilst its true the likes of McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes haver raised their game, at the same time it is true that Red Bull Racing have become destabilised. As evidence of this we could point to the departure of Adrian Newey, Rob Marshall and Jonathan Wheatley – all announced this year – yet there is something more glaringly obvious that all is not well with the world champions.

Sergio Perez’s future has looked to be on a knife edge for at least two seasons now. He failed to match the performances of Mercedes number two driver in 2021 which meant only Max won a title that season and Red Bull had another year to wait.

 

 

 

Red Bull driver crisis

Last year Perez had a mid-season crisis, much like the one he is in now, yet recovered to finish second in the drivers’ championship – in the most dominant F1 car of all time it has to be said.

Now again Perez languishes last amongst the top four F1 team’s drivers and his lack of contribution this year will almost certainly again cost Red Bull another team title. So how did. The mighty Red Bull ruthless competitor they have shown themselves to be, get into this situation in the first place.

The team’s four driver lineup has been a bone of contention since before Didi Mateschitz died two years ago during the 2022 USGP weekend. With Nyck de Vries having performed incredibly as a stand in for Alex Albon at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, Dr. Helmut Marko was keen for Red Bull to poach the ex-Mercedes reserve driver to replace Pierre Gasly for 2023.

De Vries was lauded pre-season by Marko as the natural leader of the Red Bull sister team: “Yuki is young and doesn’t have this experience and background, so [Nyck] should lead the team,” Marko said. “We will see how it goes next year, but from the experience and the personality he has, he should be the team leader.”

Red Bull “key figure” not up to the task says ex-driver

 

 

 

Marko’s ulterior motive for De Vries

Yet maybe the real reason Dr. Marko was after the Formula-E champion driver was buried away later in his interview with Autosport. “He is reserve driver for nearly every Mercedes team on the grid and he has been in various simulators, and we get this kind experience onboard,” mmm?

Was Marko in fact more interested in what Red Bull could learn about the Mercedes facilities and operation rather than De Vries himself, begs the question?

Meanwhile Christian Horner was bringing home one of his favourite drivers from yesteryear, Daniel Ricciardo who had a torrid time at McLaren for two years and was being released from Woking a year before his contract ended. However, Marko had landed the De Vries deal prior to Ricciardo becoming a free agent and so having made the announcement, De Vries was in to start 2023.

Ten races later and Marko was publicly admitting he’d got it wrong and Christian Horner had made the right call. Marko said that he and Horner “not often, but sometimes” disagreed on driver signings and, when asked to reveal the most recent example, he said: “The last one where I would say, Nyck de Vries. And at the moment it looks like he [Horner] is right.”

Renault boss throws engine department under the bus

 

 

 

Horner ultimately gets his way

Horner then got his way with Ricciardo stepping into the Alpha Tauri seat and initially he appeared to impress out qualifying and finishing ahead of Tsunoda. Then came the crash in Zandvoort practice which broke the Aussies hands which allowed Liam Lawson a five weekend showcase to show what he could do now  as the team’s official reserve driver.

Ricciardo returned but was out shone by his Japanese team mate and this has been followed by Daniel struggling to be competitive for most of this season. The decision to replace him was inevitable even if how it was done by the team left a sour taste in many people’s mouths.

Guenther Steiner now calls into question Christian Horner’s decision to bring back Ricciardo in the first place. While Daniel Ricciardo’s career has been a success by modern standards, had the cards landed differently the Aussie could have been an F1 world champion.

However, Steiner argues Red Bull made an error bringing Daniel back into the fold last year. He believes instead Liam Lawson should have been promoted for this year and been given a season long to prove himself against Yuki Tsunoda.

Marko: Perez quick, BUT…

 

 

 

Steiner says “wrong decision” by Horner

Speaking about Ricciardo’s return Steiner says: “He impressed them in the reserve role and then a Pirelli tyre test. It wasn’t 100% that he would be better, but the hope was there.

“It’s all about your gut instinct. Yes, you have the information, but in the end it’s down to the gut to make the decision.

“They put Daniel in instead of Nyck, but obviously it wasn’t the right choice as they took him out mid-season. Someone made a wrong decision there. They could have put Liam in then,” argues Steiner.

The ex-Haas F1 boss admits hindsight is a wonderful thing, but clearly Red Bull have got themselves in a pickle and have yet to solve their biggest driver issue which is Perez. That Perez will be leaving Red Bull for 2025 must be almost as certain as it gets given his lack lustre support for Max Verstappen has been the topic of weekly column inches written after most Grand Prix for more than a season.

Ricciardo “masterstroke” F1 return in Austin

 

 

 

Red Bull need driver overhaul

The chain of events from Marko coveting Mercedes ex-academy driver, to Horner wanting to relive the old times with Ricciardo has led to the sorry state of affairs within the Red Bull camp.

Yuki Tsunoda clearly does not have the confidence of Marko or Horner to be promoted alongside Verstappen so in reality his seat is up for grabs as Red Bull try to rebuild a coherent driver lineup.

Lawson is being “evaluated” against Yuki Tsunoda for the next six race weekends according to Marko, though presumably it will be him who replaces Perez and either Arvin Lindbled or Ayumu Iwasa will fill the seat just vacated by Daniel Ricciardo.

Cadillac going it alone with F1 entry

 

 

 

Mansell calls on Norris to “step up”

The McLaren Formula One team are one of the great stalwarts of the sport. Bruce McLaren first entered a car in F1 for the 1966. Monaco Grand Prix and the team won their first Grand Prix in 1968 at Spa Francorchamps.

Yet McLaren’s greatest success in the early days was in Can-Am which they dominated from 1967-1971. Further American glory was to come the way of the Woking based team with Indianapolis 500 wins for Mark Donohue (1972) and Johnny Rutherford (1974/6).

After Bruce McLaren was killed in a testing accident at Goodwood in 1970, Teddy Mayer took charge of the team and led them to their first constructors’ championship in 1974 and driver titles for Emerson Fittipaldi and James Hunt in 1974 and 1976 respectively. 1974 was also the start of a long standing relationship between McLaren and the Marlboro cigarette brand… READ MORE