Since Red Bull Co-Founder Dietrich Mateschitz died in October 2022, there were stories about power struggles within the company. These got louder during the 2023 season as more disagreements emerged between two of the rival factions within the company. Now, it appears that a civil war has broken out within the firm.
What we are seeing now with the ongoing Christian Horner saga is part of this larger battle for control of the race team. Supposedly Horner has the backing of the Yoovidhya family (co-founders of Red Bull with 51% share of company) whereas the Austrian faction (owned by Mark Mateschitz with 49% share of company) has the support of Jos Verstappen and Helmut Marko. There are additional details, which The Race covers in their recent video on the matter.
How this plays out is anybody’s guess at this point, however it will have an impact on the team. For the last several seasons, Red Bull Racing has had the fastest car on the grid with the fastest driver (Max Verstappen) driving it. They are a dominant combination, due in large part to an outstanding technical team led by Adrian Newey. The team has gone from the corporate mess that was the Jaguar Racing Team circa 2005 to the well-oiled winning powerhouse that it is today. This was largely due to an unusual degree of team stability at various leadership positions. Continuity has enabled Red Bull to achieve amazing results in a relatively short timeframe.
All that could end suddenly though. All teams, including Red Bull Racing, lose people to other teams for a variety of reasons. It could be more money, new challenges, different working environments, or any number of other factors. All teams have succession plans in place though and ensure certain key people are retained for the medium to long-terms; meaning attrition and turnover are mitigated. However, this can go awry when the rate of attrition and the skill set of those leaving reaches a critical mass. This may soon be the case with RBR.
There are rumors that other teams are now targeting selected Red Bull Racing personnel due to the ongoing chaos within the team. Working relationships between key people like Helmut Marko, Christian Horner, Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley, and others may be frayed or fractured at this point; meaning some will have to move on. As this happens, it will affect the racing team and it’s results on-track. For now, this won’t be felt but it could become acute later in the year and into 2025. This could affect the team’s preparations for the new rules in 2026.
So intra-team conflict can hamper even winning teams as they seek to remain competitive. Think of Williams (1986-1987), McLaren (1989 and 2007), Red Bull (2011-2013), Mercedes (2014-2016), and Ferrari (1950-present) as recent examples of this. The division that resulted from these inter-cine fights resulted in people leaving and the teams becoming less competitive. It can become a vicious circle that can take a long time to get out of.
We’ll see what happens but no matter what, the Red Bull Racing juggernaut is bound to be impacted by the escalating civil war within the parent company.
