Total diaspora
“If Horner doesn’t leave, Red Bull will explode”. “If I stay until 2028? That’s the goal, it would be nice to get there all together because it would mean we’ve all faced things as a family.” These are two sentences attributable to two people with the same surname, Verstappen, the first is by Jos, the second is by Max, both ultimately prophetic.
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In 2023, Red Bull included among its ranks – in hierarchical order – Christian Horner (team principal), Helmut Marko (consultant), Adrian Newey (technical director), Jonathan Wheatley (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 that in 2023 came within just one GP – that of Singapore – of a historic clean sweep in F1, soon there will be no one left wearing the Red Bull branded polo shirt. Gianpiero Lambiase, in fact, has accepted an astronomical offer from McLaren and from 2028 will be dressed in papaya color.
Since the passing of founder Dietrich Mateschitz in the autumn of 2022, Red Bull experienced its season of maximum splendor shortly thereafter, only to begin a slow and inexorable dive that today proceeds very fast towards the ground in perfect accordance with the law of gravity. The first grain of sand in the gears – a boulder – was the disagreement between Horner and Newey that led to the latter’s departure. Red Bull bet on Pierre Waché, convinced they had a more than valid heir in the Frenchman, but the French technical director in reality from 2024 (inclusive) onwards has done nothing but get practically all the cars he signed wrong and now his position wavers more than ever (if the Miami updates are yet another failure, Waché is at serious risk of dismissal) given that the newly born power unit is certainly not responsible for the worst start to a season in ten years. Jonathan Wheatley’s exit perhaps went a bit under the radar, but it should not be forgotten that on the 2021 World Championship the Sporting Director put a signature in block letters if one considers how many times the ‘court hearings’ between Red Bull, Mercedes and the FIA were decisive.
In a climate of tension and general scramble, the Austrian ownership last July tried to stop the bleeding by firing the plenipotentiary Christian Horner, who was guaranteed a severance package of 60 million euros, even though he had a contract valid until 2030.
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Horner’s removal – who was replaced by Laurent Mekies – coincided with an initial period of enthusiasm and smiles (an ’emotional rebound’ that always characterizes the dynamics of a group when the ‘coach is fired’) also due to a hard-charging end to the season, but it was a flash in the pan.
For Helmut Marko, Max Verstappen seemed ready to jump into the fire, but in the end Marko’s natural exit from the team did not coincide with the departure of the Dutchman who had in Gianpiero Lambiase a North Star that 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 one considers that the official announcement of Newey’s departure dates back to the beginning of May 2024) the Red Bull organizational chart has been 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.
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