The internal war within Red Bull between the Thai faction, which it defends Christian Horner by the continuous attempts at delegitimization through more or less artfully constructed scandals, and the Austrian faction which sees the clan among its ranks Verstappen and Helmut Marko shows no signs of abating. In recent days the news has spread that the Red Bull employee who reported Christian Horner has filed a complaint with the Federation's ethics committee against the English team principal. It is only the last act in chronological order of a feud whose end is not in sight but which could have disruptive effects on the integrity of the world champion team. The English journalist Joe Sawarda frequenter of the paddock for more than thirty-five years, commented on the situation of the Anglo-Austrian team in an episode of the podcast “Missed Apex”. Saward reconstructed facts and background, providing a key to understanding both human and political.
Lots of Red Bulls fighting each other
“We need to understand something important and that is that the Red Bull is no longer a single organization, there are at least two and maybe more at war, and we can't trust any official statement because we don't know which side it comes from. So if there is an investigation going on at Red Bull it is not known which party is investigating which, but the important point is that Christian Horner is supported by the Thai ownership which has 51% of the shareholdings in Red Bull and therefore has the power. Horner cannot be expelled from the intermediate company between the two of them which is Red Bull GmbH in Austria, where Mark Mateschitz, son and heir of Dietrich Mateschitz, has 49% but he has effectively made the decision to renounce any type of management at Red Bull. He's not trying to father him, which is probably a wise thing to do because he fathered him was an amazing man and no one wants to be the son who screwed everything up. So there is the group of Austrian managers who appear to be the ones who are really trying to get rid of Christian, but Horner is protected. So there are three levels and the upper tier (Thai ownership ed.) supports the lower tier (Horner who is also CEO of Red Bull Racing ed.) and the middle tier is not synchronized with the other two. Helmut Marko is part of the intermediate level like Jos Verstappen.”
Verstappen the most expendable
On the fight between the Verstappen clan and Christian Horner, Saward has no doubts about who needs to be saved to preserve the integrity of the Formula 1 team:
“I was absolutely amazed when Jos Verstappen said Horner should go. At that point Max didn't have many choices because he had to agree with his father or not. You can't just sit there and say nothing. At that point word reached Jeddah that Marko would be removed and at that point Max said “well, if that happens I'm not sure I'll stay here”. Max Verstappen came out at that point and basically single-handedly ruined relations with Horner. I don't see how he and Christian will be able to move forward. They might get to the end of this year, but I can't see how they will move forward in the long term because the trust between Horner and the Verstappen family is gone. If I were the owner of Red Bull Racing I would get rid of Verstappen and not Horner because that's Team Horner. Even if he is the best driver in the world because if you don't want to destroy the team you don't get rid of the team leader who built it. We are talking about a manager who has been there for 15 years and the idea that some Austrian could parachute into Milton Keynes to manage the racing team is simply madness. So if you're trying to protect your investment from all these years and you want to make sure the team continues to do what it's doing, you don't change the team, you change the driver.”
It's written Red Bull, it's read Horner
Saward thus reconstructed the genesis of the Red Bull team and its numerous successes. A collaboration between different entities which, with the death of Dietrich Mateschitz, began to demand merit and control of the team:
“I think it's true that Christian Horner and the Thai majority are thinking of taking Red Bull Racing and all the other elements in it such as the Red Bull Technology Group which includes the factory that makes the engines and the company that is now building the RB17 supercar to take them out of Red Bull GmbH group. They have the power to do it and Mr Yoovidhya can go to the Red Bull board of directors and say that he has decided to take the Red Bull Racing company out of Red Bull and that he will pay top dollar for this and ask for 51 cents the rest because he has 51% of the shares. There were agreements when Dietrich Mateschitz was alive. Despite having the minority share, Dietrich had management control of the company but I believe that agreement died with him so now Thai ownership can do whatever they want. Horner obviously doesn't want a bunch of Austrians telling him how to run his team because he knows the team was successful because he ran it. He ran it with Mateschitz's money yeah, and he ran it with some help from Marko in finding drivers and everything and Marko was Dietrich's eyes and ears but Christian made it. So you could say that it was Team Horner who took to the track in recent years with a Red Bull badge stuck on it and I think that's the way Christian sees it. Adrian Newey is there thanks to Christian as he was for Renault. The Red Bull Racing operation has been a success, and therefore everyone feels that they are in the right and that others are disloyal. The difference is which side you're on.”
No exodus of technicians towards Ferrari
The hope of many Ferrari fans is that the Red Bull crisis and the poisonous climate that it has generated can convince many valuable technicians, Newey first and foremost, to look around and accept the offers that may come from Maranello to strengthen the technical staff . Joe Saward said he was sceptical, sparing no harsh judgments towards the Maranello team:
“Why should Red Bull team members who have children in nearby schools, a nice house, work fifteen minutes' drive away, endless attention from the team and no criticism from the press go to Ferrari if they have all this? Ferrari is like a huge meat grinder and is still the same old Ferrari despite Vasseur management. They just haven't been put under pressure yet. This year they will break their own record for the worst sequence in Ferrari history without constructors' world titles. The first was from '83 to '99, 15 years. This will be the 16th year they haven't won a championship and I think I can guarantee that. Unless Red Bull catches fire, the factory burns down and the cars are destroyed I can't see Ferrari winning the world championship this year and even if that happens Mercedes will probably beat them anyway.“
#Verstappen #expendable #FormulaPassion.it
