Much has been made of the dramatic events in Milton Keynes this season which all appeared to begin with an internal power struggle for control of the Formula One team. This saw Christian Horner accused of “inappropriate behaviour” by a female employee, allegations from which he was exonerated of by an investigation and then a subsequent appeal.

The Red Bull energy drinks business had been thrown into disarray following the death of founder and entrepreneur Didi Mateschitz. Austrian minority shareholders appeared to attempt a coup of the organisation until the private majority Thai shareholder stepped up to calm troubled waters.

Add to this the number of high profile individuals who have announced they are leaving the team which has coincided with the RB20’s on track performance going off a cliff and the back story gains momentum that as a team Re Bull are in trouble.

 

 

 

 

Red Bull ‘brain drain?’

The gap to the rest of the field peaked after the British Grand Prix with Verstappen 84 points ahead of McLaren’s chasing Lando Norris. Just six race weekends later the lead has been slashed to just 52 points although had McLaren been more street savvy, this should have been ten points less.

Whilst no win for Max Verstappen in the last eight outings seemed almost an impossibility a year ago, now the question is where will he and the Red Bull finally turn this slump around. Red Bull’s apparent performance implosion is all too easily attributed to the early season infighting and loss of key staff members, yet Christian Horner argues differently.

Something which has changed in Formula One is the effect of restricted spending under the FIA’s financial regulations. The effect of the cost cap rules have progressively been boring the teams harder and harder, something Christian Horner explains is now just a reality of modern paddock life.

The rules allow the top three earners in each F1 organisation to be excluded from the financial rules restricting spending but the identity of these individuals and their remuneration is something the teams can keep private.

SHOCKING weather hits Norris F1 test

 

 

 

Cost cap now affects personnel decisions

Red Bull are now undergoing a restructure of their personnel structure and as Horner reveals the effect of the cost cap is a team can no longer just counter offer when one of their staff is being poached.

“You can’t have a Galactus because you can’t afford it. You’ve got to look at bang for buck and it forces you to make some really tough decisions,” says the Red Bull boss.

“It’s tough. Jonathan was a very good sporting director, but he was an expensive asset. So you have to weigh things up.”

As happens in most all organisations, those at the top must decide who in the team is worthy of promotion and who has reached the top of their salary curve and can be efficiently replaced by natural succession.

Wolff SHOCKED Red Bull engineer turned down Mercedes

 

 

 

Departures allow career development

“When he got the opportunity to move to Audi, it was: ‘Do you know what? I think you should go for that because of the way that regulations are. We’re limited in scope and what we can do for you here.” Horner revealed of his conversation with Wheatley.

“‘So, if you have an opportunity to further yourself and go and earn significantly more money, go for it.’”

Of course the role of team principal was not on offer for Wheatley at Red Bull and Horner is philosophic about staff leaving – given this provides an opportunity for others to progress providing career development without the need to look elsewhere for promotion.

“It is the same with Will Courtenay and strategy. He has been here for 20 years. We talked about other roles within the group. He was offered a bigger role on a very high salary from McLaren, and at that point you have got to say: ‘Good luck. Go for it,’ Horner continues.

Ricciardo’s crashgtae joke goes badly with Massa

 

 

 

Only 3 staff remain from Vettel era

“But at the same time, it gives an opportunity for Hannah Schmitz to move up, which, if she hadn’t had that opportunity, she’d have been a prime target for somebody.

“In any organisation, you’re going to have evolution. We had less than 5% turnover here, so we have tremendous loyalty within the team.”

The Red Bull boss reflects on how he built the team from the ashes of Jaguar F1 yet even from the 2010-2013 era when the team were cleaning up, “If I look around the engineering office, particularly trackside compared to when we were winning with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Weber, during that 2010 to 2013 period, I think there’s only three people in the engineering office that were there at that point, out of probably the 25 that are trackside.”

Horner’s three include Paul Monaghan, Michael Manning and Jonathan Wheatley noting that his replacement, Hannah Schmitz at the time was graduating from Cambridge.

The Grand Prix now labelled “a scam and not profitable”

 

 

 

Horner claims Newey was ‘on his way 0ut’

Of course the highest profile departure has been Adrian Newey, who claimed at the time he handed in his notice, that he was tired and needed a break. Of course a huge money offer from Aston Martin changed all that and in fact Newey is to return to full time employment after his part time role with Red Bull.

When asked if the early season turmoil at Red Bullhead factored in Newey’s decision to go, Horner reveals he was considering his options towards the back end of 2023.

“Adrian leaving the team was something that already, at the back end of 2023 [he was considering], he was growing somewhat, I think, conflicted in his own mind. The agreement that we had was at the end of ’25 he was going to step back from F1 and really just be a mentor. Otherwise, I was going to lose the other [technical] guys to some rival teams.”

There’s evidence from social media that the Newey ‘step back’ may have been instigated initially by him, but also him leaving the team is part of Red Bull were succession planning for the inevitable day when the F1 design guru decided time was up.

Hamilton arrives: Ferrari prepare something big

 

 

 

The clue from Newey’s wife

Horner gave a fairly standard interview with motorsport.com where he was explaining Newey’s actual role within the team over the past few seasons. “Adrian is a big part of this team and big part of what we’ve achieved. But of course, his role has evolved over the last few years and the technical team beneath him led by Pierre Wache, they’re doing a wonderful job and so that they’re not reliant on Adrian.”

In response, Newey’s wife Amanda took to X to voice her displeasure. “What a load of hogwash,” she tweeted in response to the suggestion that Red Bull’s technical leadership has evolved to “not be reliant” on Newey.

Over the years Newey has dipped out of Formula One duties when he saw fit, this was evident in the early year’s of the V6 turbo hybrids when Newey felt Renault could not give the team a competitive power unit and became disillusioned.

Horner concludes, ”The deal he’s got from Aston with equity and so on, is something that quite simply wasn’t on the table here. I can understand, Adrian wants another run around the block in F1, and as a shareholder and partner in a team, I certainly don’t blame him for that.”

Only time will tell whether the Red Bull decision to wean themselves from reliance on Newey does have an effect on future Red Bull car deigns – or whether in fact Horner has delivered a successful passing of the baton.

Ricciardo returns

 

 

 

Michael Schumacher breaks social media silence after 11 years

Formula 1 legend’s career celebrated after first public appearance in over a decade – After years of silence and speculation, Michael Schumacher’s social media accounts have finally broken a five-month hiatus following his first public appearance since his life-changing accident in 2013.

A figure synonymous with Formula One greatness, Schumacher’s absence from the public eye has fuelled intrigue about his health and well-being. His reappearance, however discreet, is a poignant reminder of his legendary status in motorsport… READ MORE