Autosport – 25 July 2019

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25 JULY 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 21

was off its game, Red Bull and

Renault had a rapid fall from grace.

Red Bull has not been in title

contention since. Finally, in 2018, the

decision was made to cut ties with Renault and form a new alliance

for this season with Honda. Before that, tensions escalated to the point

that Red Bull issued a very serious quit threat. It wanted to split from

Renault in 2015 but found avenues to Mercedes or Ferrari power blocked.

Some felt that Red Bull wanted to eat its cake, and have it too.

Any subsequent suggestions it could leave F1 have been haughtily

dismissed by critics. But any individual making a serious investment

is free to question that investment if they feel it is being damaged.

“For Red Bull it’s very important we have the ability to compete

to win,” says Horner of the Honda deal’s importance to the team’s

F1 future. “A vital element of that is the power unit.

“With Honda we have an apolitical partner that’s not in anybody’s

pocket. It has a great track record in F1 and is keen to get back into a

consistent winners’ circle. That’s exactly where we are as a team.”

Mateschitz and his company do not need to spend this much money

in grand prix racing. That does not mean F1 should hand him his desires

on a silver platter. But it does mean his decision to withdraw if he does

not feel it is worth his investment is his alone.

Red Bull’s expectation of what it wanted from F1 changed when it

bought Jaguar and then Minardi to form Toro Rosso, its junior team. And

unsurprisingly, as the stakes got higher, the ‘to hell with everyone else’

attitude got harder to stick with. Red Bull has continued to go off-piste,

but even the most renegade organisation cannot escape the realities of F1.

“The politics that surround the sport always have done whenever

there’s a lot of money involved,” says Horner. “I think we’ve always

tried to operate by sticking to the base principles that we are a race team,

we focus on being a race team, and our biggest asset is our people. We’re

not afraid to voice an opinion or speak our mind in what we believe in.”

WHY QUIT THREATS

AREN’T HOT AIR

Red Bull has experienced all F1 can throw at a team in the past

decade. From its first victory in 2009 to a first world title in 2010,

which snowballed into four consecutive championship doubles,

it raised the bar for what giants of F1 – mainly Ferrari and McLaren

• needed to aim for.
  During this time, Vettel set a new record for consecutive victories in
  the second half of 2013. Unlike Ferrari, or McLaren, or Williams – all of
  whom had had seasons of almost unrelenting success – there appeared
  to be greater discontent when Red Bull was at its most successful.
  Red Bull’s popularity went hand-in-glove with Vettel’s. Neither
  seemed to get the adulation they deserved, with Vettel’s reputation
  in particular seeming to suffer alongside Mark Webber, as he was
  either criticised for getting preferential treatment over a number-
  two driver, or only beating a number-two driver.
  Their partnership made for “uncomfortable” moments for Red
  Bull, particularly when it went from having a 1-2 finish in the 2010
  Monaco Grand Prix to both drivers crashing into each other in
  Turkey. “We had gone from that absolute highest point you can
  to the lowest within a two-week period,” remembers Horner.
  Apart from its driver rivalry, Red Bull came under ever-increasing
  scrutiny from its opposition as it shook up the competitive order and
  irritated teams with a bold recruitment drive, including hiring Newey.
  “The best way to become unpopular is to do a lot of winning,”
  says Horner. “We started to win a lot and obviously with our rivals
  it started to stick in the throat a bit.
  “The biggest compliment you can have from your rivals is getting
  under their skin because it means you’re doing something right. I
  think that we were ploughing our own furrow and we were winning,
  we were competitive, and we were doing it in our own way.”
  When the rules changed in 2014 and engine partner Renault slipped
  well behind, the relationship deteriorated rapidly in public view. From
  dominating the season before to sniping three victories when Mercedes

RED BULL RACING

POINTS SCORERS

DRIVER POINTS

Sebastian Vettel 1577

Mark Webber 978.5

Daniel Ricciardo 956

Max Verstappen 744

Daniil Kvyat 116

David Coulthard 60

Pierre Gasly 55

Christian Klien 11

Vitantonio Liuzzi 1