Racing Bulls heads to Baku to defend its sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship. It has scored zero points in the last two races (Zandvoort and Monza), but the team’s haul is positive with ten races concluded in the Top 10 out of sixteen events.
The Faenza team is experiencing a moment of great change that is not easy to perceive from the outside: the goal of placing itself at the top of the central group, behind Red Bull and the Constructors, was conceivable in one or two years, not before.
It is interesting, then, to go and find out what could have generated this advance of plans already in the first year of a new adventure. Because there was not only the change of the team’s name from AlphaTauri to Racing Bulls, but the start of a revolution that is only in its first phase.
Franz Tost, the team’s historic boss, has given way to a very determined couple: Peter Bayer, CEO, and Laurent Mekies, team principal. Two very different but complementary personalities. They are the “cat” and the “fox”: the first, a 53-year-old Austrian, is a fine politician with marketing and commercial skills acquired in a career in contact with leading figures in the world of the Olympics and the FIA.
The second, a 47-year-old Frenchman, is the technician with an engineering background and extensive sports skills developed first in the FIA (he was supposed to become Charlie Whituing’s heir) and then in Ferrari.
The Red Bull top brass gave him a mission: to give a new identity to the Group’s second team that enhances its presence in the Circus. Racing Bulls is constantly changing day after day.
Laurent Mekies, Team Principal RB F1 Team
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
“The work started only eight months ago – explains Mekies – and we have given ourselves a three-year plan. We can talk about a path of birth and development of the machines for 2025 and 2026, but in parallel there is the rebirth and strengthening of the team”.
It is a process that concerns structures and people: “So there are a lot of new people who have arrived – continues Laurent -, and a new structure is being created that will integrate with the world of Milton Keynes. The 2025 single-seater will be in continuity with the current rules, but everything else will change. Our bosses told us: we have two F1 teams. One fighting for the title and the other will aim for an innovative communication strategy, but certain messages will not be received if we are at the back of the grid, from eighth to tenth in the Constructors. The project was born with the aim of placing us in the middle of the group, aware that we will have the obligation to beat one or two car manufacturers or teams that have been in F1 for 50 years and, therefore, with a great tradition”.
Peter Bayer, CEO RB F1 Team
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
And how do you plan to do it?
“We made a thorough analysis of everything we were missing,” explains Peter Bayer, “and we drew up a plan that we are implementing. Things are moving at a speed that we had not thought possible, given that we are already in contention for sixth place.”
Looking from the outside, you don’t perceive the change in mentality: what does it depend on?
“From a new philosophy – Laurent reveals – the project started from a high degree of freedom that Red Bull has granted us. Being part of a Group is not a limit, but can be a great resource if we maintain the autonomy of our choices”.
Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team VCARB 01
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
The statement is very interesting, but how is it implemented in practice?
“Thanks to the freedom of action we have received, we are making many changes, perhaps even making mistakes, but we are able to move very quickly. Speed in F1 is fundamental, but we know that the path is not as easy as it may seem. We follow the example of Williams: James Vowles arrived last year, looked for people and started a plan and, probably, in this second year the growth has not been as expected, so we can imagine that the progression will not be linear. But, for example, the 2025 car will be made with a different dynamic, taking advantage of the freedom, at least in this initial phase, that Red Bull has given us”.
What do you put into your culture acquired at Ferrari?
“We recently hired a dozen people from other top teams. We have decided not to replicate what was experienced at Ferrari or Red Bull, Mercedes or Alpine. We are forbidding ourselves because we have to think about what Racing Bulls will need in the future without reusing ideas that have already been implemented because they were successful at Red Bull or Ferrari. We are looking for a new approach: we are fighting against teams that have become very complex and therefore have much less freedom in the processes. The decision-making chain is perhaps longer or more complicated. Our only chance of beating four teams is to focus on speed of action. The day we lose this characteristic it will become difficult to beat the others because we will not be as great”.
And how will this result be achieved?
“We made another bet on the factory organization. We are the only team that has two locations for the chassis part. Historically it has been a weakness, but we want to try again and transform a disadvantage into a positive aspect”.
The concept is not clear, explain better…
“In the structure of our company there is no location, but there are departments. Well, the same department can have one employee in Faenza and the other in Bicester. The example is given by the two track engineers: one is in Great Britain and the other in Italy. It is a gamble: the organizational chart does not show you where a person is, but everyone can be connected. Will it work? The results will tell. Then it is clear that if someone works on the production of parts he cannot be in Bicester, but must be in Faenza”.
Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
The factory is changing too…
“The headquarters remain in Faenza, while a new structure is being built in Milton Keynes. In Romagna there are 500 people working there while there are another 110 in Great Britain. About 15 years ago we bought the Bicester wind tunnel where we created an aerodynamic department. Over time, the wind tunnel became outdated and so, given that the regulation has reduced the time you can work in the tunnel, we decided to share the Bedford structure. If the Faenza site rebuilt in 2015 is beautiful and modern, the English one is now inadequate. We are closing Bicester and will transfer the staff to the new Milton Keynes site where we will be operating from January. It is obvious that it will not be a structure for 110 people, but it is designed to grow further. The construction is only Racing Bulls and will be adjacent to Red Bull Powertrains, where the power units are being created. We now use the Bedford wind tunnel, but a new one will be built in Milton Keynes but it won’t be able to accommodate the 2026 car.”
Peter Bayer crosses the technical aspect with the political one…
“Our team is looking for a different marketing approach. Red Bull Racing is fighting for the world championship, but we need to represent a new identity that targets young people, that also seeks different aspects of communication such as music, fashion and entertainment. Obviously racing remains the priority of our plan, but since we will not be fighting for the world championship, we will have the freedom to present ourselves differently: the launch of the livery that was done in downtown Miami in collaboration with a museum comes to mind. We have partners who are aiming for a team with a fresh and young image”.
With this in mind, will Racing Bulls have to start promoting young drivers again?
“Of course – Mekies clarifies – there are interesting young people who are growing in the training formulas, but if you have Yuki and Daniel in the team it is clear that the pilots are the least of the problems. Let’s say that this year it is fine like this, but our role is to promote young talents in the Red Bull world”.
Peter Bayer pragmatically adds:
“We know that having two young drivers and hoping to be competitive to be sixth in the Constructors’ Championship is very difficult, so it is better to have an experienced driver and a young driver in the team.”
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