On 19 April 2009 on the Shanghai circuit, Red Bull Racing achieved its first victory in Formula 1. Twenty-four hours earlier the team had celebrated its first pole position, confirming its potential ready to explode, as it will actually happen in a very short time . Sebastian Vettel was the perfect interpreter in a five-year period of glory, becoming one with the team that will allow him to conquer four world titles.
Fourteen years and two months later, Red Bull is ready to celebrate its 100th victory on the Montreal circuit. A goal to be grabbed on the fly by exploiting a moment of form that is proving to be the most exceptional ever in the team’s history.
One hundred victories later, the baton passed from the hands of Vettel to those of Max Verstappen, but it is not a little surprising to find the three key figures of the team still in their respective positions occupied in 2009.
Christian Horner and Helmut Marko congratulate Max Verstappen after a victory: will they celebrate their 100th victory on Sunday?
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
For Christian Horner, Adrian Newey and Helmut Marko, the trio that wrote the history of Red Bull Racing, there have also been difficult moments over the years, such as the 2015 season (the only one that ended without a win since 2009) but no one has ever questioning the highest paid triad in the paddock. “Having already won eight world titles, our position in that period was still solid – commented Marko years later – but if there hadn’t been the triumphs obtained from 2010 to 2013 who knows…”.
Now everything seems ready for an announced party that will see Red Bull join the prestigious ‘three-digit’ club led by Ferrari (242 wins), McLaren (183), Mercedes (125) and Williams (114).
There are those who persist in contemptuously calling “Bibitari” a team that over the years has been able to confirm itself as an excellence of Formula 1, capable of climbing to the top, confirming itself and then reacting to the inevitable falls. An often ‘borderline’ racing spirit, all on the edge like Adrian Newey’s single-seaters and with a latent arrogance ready to emerge for use and consumption.
However, the 100th victory expected on Sunday certifies a lot of substance and an ambition never satiated by victories and world titles. The next challenge will be a single-seater made entirely in Milton Keynes, including the power unit, an inevitable choice after years of conflicting relationships with the current supplier.
For Horner, Newey and Marko, the most difficult period was last summer, when, despite Verstappen’s repeated successes, the team seemed destined to pass into the hands of Porsche, also due to the difficult health situation of Dieter Mateschitz, who later passed away on October 22nd.
In the end, Horner prevailed, returning the Porsche program to the sender and obtaining the go-ahead to start with an independent project, to which Ford’s support was added in the running. “We have saved the spirit of Red Bull, we have always been and will remain an independent reality,” commented Horner after the storm.
Adrian Newey, technical genius of Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Now everything seems to be going in the right direction, there are no clouds on the horizon. Only Marko will soon leave his role after celebrating his 80th birthday last April. Newey has just extended his contract (we are talking about the end of 2026) Verstappen is armored until the end of 2028 and Horner is increasingly the central pivot of the entire Red Bull project. The first hundred victories will most likely be celebrated on Sunday evening, but that much will still come in the future.
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