Has Nyck de Vries just scored a seat, his team is presented with a difficult ultimatum…
At Red Bull, a new wind is blowing through the organization after the death of the late boss Dietrich Mateschitz. One of the new big men within the group is called Oliver Mintzlaff. Officially, the title belongs to Mintzlaff CEO of Corporate Projects and New Investments of Red Bull. That is a rather vague title, but it is assumed that Mintzlaff has a lot to offer at Red Bull. And especially when it comes to the sporting activities of the red bull in 2023.
resentment
From the start there was talk that Mintzlaff is not necessarily good news for Red Bull’s F1 adventures. Oliver made a name for himself as a forward boss at RB Leipzig, better known as Red Bull Leipzig. Reportedly, some resentment immediately arose between him and Helmut Marko. Now, of course, the latter is not necessarily something you can count on Oliver, but still.
Move or sell
Since then, however, everything has actually continued as it was. Falling asleep, we already thought that ‘it would all work out’. However, that may be a bit too hasty. Auto-Motor-und-Sport reports that Mintzlaff has ‘evil plans’ for Alpha Tauri. The ‘second’ Red Bull F1 team would have received an ultimatum from him: either move or sell.
Sporting reasons
Now the idea that Red Bull wants to sell Alpha Tauri (formerly Toro Rosso) is not new in itself. The team was once intended to give talents from the junior program a few years of F1 experience, before ideally moving on to Red Bull Racing and winning races and championships there.
But actually, only Ricciardo, Vettel and Verstappen managed to complete that route successfully. Verstappen was only a Red Bull junior in the stop-up classes for half a year. Now that Red Bull can also park Albon at Williams, for example, the question is whether the training team has such great value.
The latter is all the more true as Red Bull has failed several times in recent years to have someone from the junior program available who could enter F1. The juniors fell through the basket in F3 and F2, which also turns out to be a great indicator to evaluate talent. As a result, Bourdais, Hartley and De Vries got a seat at Toro Rosso/Alpha Tauri and Perez could join Red Bull Racing.
Financial reasons
But probably more importantly, Alpha Tauri costs Red Bull money. And that’s pretty good for an F1 team in 2023. The sport is now so lucrative that everyone wants to buy a team. But for Alpha Tauri, that apparently does not apply. The team finished 9th in the final standings last year, which means that about 100 million less was received in prize money than at Red Bull Racing. Ironically enough, ‘the big team’ actually generates money, while Red Bull has to make up the difference between the income and the budget cap for the training team.
Because the sponsorship of Red Bull itself is so dominant, Alpha Tauri has never really succeeded in attracting a major other sponsor. This year Orlen is a welcome addition. Alpha Tauri ‘stole’ the Polish oil company from Alfa Romeo. But you could also say that Alfa Romeo could ‘get better’ with Stake, the new partner who pays $ 100 million for three years on the Alfa.
In addition, Alpha Tauri does not appear to be doing very well as a clothing brand. Several stores are reportedly struggling to be profitable. Apparently the market for blue jackets of 500 euros is not as big as you might think…
Why move as an alternative to selling?
Because the cost-benefit analysis is part of the problem for Alpha Tauri, Mintzlaff suggests moving as an alternative to selling the team, according to AM-und-S. The move should then go to England and more specifically to Milton Keynes. As is known, Alpha Tauri comes from Minardi’s old team. The factory is therefore still located in Faenza. However, the aerodynamics department is located in England and that entails costs. By locating the factory near Red Bull Racing, costs can be shared and Alpha Tauri becomes cheaper to run.
But…If it does end up being sold…to whom and for how much?
To start with the first: according to AM-und-S you should think about 700 million dollars. That is bizarre on the one hand, since, as Günther Steiner says, you bought a team for 1 dollar five years ago. But yes, the sport is extremely lucrative now and don’t forget that a new team would have to pay 200 million to the other teams anyway, to compensate them for future increased income. So you have probably broken down that barrier (which the current teams consider too low) if you buy an existing team.
Those interested are already queuing up. Of course the Andretti’s want to bite. But in addition, the Hitech racing team (recently active in F3 and F2 with Nikita Mazepin, among others) would also be interested, as well as a billionaire from Mumbai. Backed by money from Dubai, Hitech is currently in pole position to pull it off, should it come to that. Last year, the team rented out its F2 seats to Liam Lawson and the now canceled Juri Vips.
And finally; Nyck de Vries then?
Watching coffee grounds, of course, in this ‘what if this, then that’. We suspect that Alpha Tauri has just got the budget and plans for this season in place and is finishing everything as planned. And perhaps Mintzlaff is only issuing this ultimatum to increase the pressure and possibly force a move.
Anyway, things can sometimes go very quickly in Formula 1. Certainly if a party like Andretti comes along, it is obvious that they will put their ‘own’ drivers forward. Then they also have to have a super license and the like… Like all F1 drivers, it is best for Nyck to keep driving fast so that he has the best chance of surviving in the premier class. Actually, they should make some kind of drama documentary about it someday…
This article Team Nyck de Vries gets ultimatum: move or sell appeared first on Autoblog.nl.
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