Once upon a time there was Red Bull

Total diaspora “If Horner doesn’t leave, Red Bull will explode”. “What if I stay until 2028? That’s the goal, it would be nice to all get there together because it would mean we all dealt with things as a family.” They are two sentences that can be traced back to two people with the same surname, Verstappen, the first is from Jos, the second is from Max, both ultimately prophetic. In 2023, Red Bull included among its ranks – in hierarchical order – Christian Horner (team principal), Helmut Marko (consultant), Adrian Newey (technical director), Jonathan Weathley (sporting director) and Gianpiero Lambiase (Max Verstappen’s track engineer) without forgetting other key figures – for example Rob Marshall – who were fundamental when they entered service in other teams. Of this list which in 2023 went to only one GP – that of Singapore – from a historic coat in F1 there will soon be no one wearing the Red Bull branded polo. Gianpiero Lambiase, in fact, has accepted an astronomical offer from McLaren and from 2028 he will be dressed in papaya colour. Since the death of founder Dietrich Mateschitz in the autumn of 2022, Red Bull soon experienced its season of maximum splendor and then began a slow and inexorable nosedive which today proceeds very quickly towards the ground in perfect agreement with the law of gravity. The first grain of sand in the gears – a boulder – was the disagreement between Horner and Newey which led to the latter’s departure. Red Bull has focused on Pierre Waché convinced that it has a more than valid heir in the Frenchman, but in reality the French technical director from 2024 (inclusive) onwards has done nothing but make mistakes in practically all the cars on which he has put his signature and now his position is wavering more than ever (if the Miami updates are yet another failure Waché is at serious risk of dismissal) given that the newly formed power unit is certainly not responsible for the worst start to the season in ten years now. Jonathan Wheatley’s exit may have gone a little under the radar, but it should not be forgotten that the DS has put his signature in large letters on the 2021 World Championship if you consider how many times the ‘court hearings’ between Red Bull, Mercedes and the FIA ​​have been decisive. In a climate of tension and general stampede, last July the Austrian owners tried to stop the bleeding by sacking the plenipotentiary Christian Horner, who was guaranteed a severance package of 60 million euros, even though he had a contract valid until 2030. The departure of Horner – who was replaced by Laurent Mekies – coincided with an initial period of enthusiasm and smiles (an ’emotional rebound’ which always characterizes the dynamics of a group when the coach is ‘sacked’) also as a result of a season finale of boarding, but it was a flash in the pan. For Helmut Marko Max Verstappen seemed ready to throw himself into the fire, but in the end Marko’s natural exit from the team did not coincide with the farewell of the Dutchman who had in Gianpiero Lambiase a North Star who will soon no longer be the fixed point of the celestial vault of the Red Bull galaxy for the four-time world champion whose future is now more than ever to be written. In a very short time (less than two years if we consider that the official nature of Newey’s farewell dates back to the beginning of May 2024) the Red Bull organization chart was reset, the last piece for the ‘happy ending’ of the ‘Once upon a time there was Red Bull’ fairy tale is the farewell of Max Verstappen, which could also be a farewell to F1.