Red Bull could quit Formula 1 over current rules

Red Bull could quit Formula 1 over current rules - Helmut Marko



Red Bull could quit Formula 1 over current rules - Helmut Marko - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com


Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has warned that the Austrian firm could pull out of Formula 1, claiming that the current regulations "will kill the sport".
Four-time world championship-winning outfit Red Bull endured a tough weekend in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, with Daniel Ricciardo coming home a distant sixth and Daniil Kvyat's car failing before the start.
Its team boss Christian Horner claimed after the race that F1 chiefs should consider taking action to equalise the performance of the current engines, and Marko said that Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz could lose interest in the sport.
"We will evaluate the situation again [in the summer] as every year and look into costs and revenues," Marko told Austrian media in Melbourne.
"If we are totally dissatisfied we could contemplate an F1 exit.
"Yes, the danger is there that Mr Mateschitz loses his passion for F1."
Marko hit out at the state of the current regulations, which Mercedes has dominated since they were introduced for 2014.
"These power units are the wrong solution for F1, and we would say this even if [Red Bull supplier] Renault were in the lead," he added.
"The technical rules are not understandable, much too complicated, and too expensive.
"We are governed by an engineers' formula. We wanted cost reduction too, but it is not happening like this.
"A designer like Adrian Newey [who is stepping back from F1] is castrated by this engine formula. These rules will kill the sport."
Red Bull's exit would have serious ramifications for F1 as Mateschitz owns the Toro Rosso team as well.
However, the Austrian firm has a contract with the sport's bosses that commits it to the world championship until at least 2020.




Bye, bye then ....

 

Auf Wiedersehen, baby.

 

Red bull has so many other auto sports it wouldn't even matter if they left. They're everywhere and this is the first time I agree. They're killing the sport.

 

Who cares? No one. This is just noise. Losers whinging isn't cool and isn't effective.

 

If red bull leaves, imagine what might happen to all the small teams that already struggle financially.

 

For me, the interesting bit is this: "the Austrian firm has a contract with the sport's bosses that commits it to the world championship until at least 2020."

I am just wondering if there are no ways out of such a contract.

After all, Red Bull is a commercial enterprise that cannot forecast its financial state so far ahead, I would think.

 

Red Bull leaving may level the field. There are not many teams that can spend as much as Red Bull.

 

Ferrari have threatened to leave for as long as I have been alive. This is just Red Bull trying to play politics with less clout or fans that care.

Teams that genuinely want to leave pack up their things and leave. Simple.

 

Already?

This kind of spin is inevitable, but this year they started earlier.

 

Yap...they should have thougt about that 4 years ago......

 

Marko said, "Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz could lose interest in the sport."

Really? We are to believe that a sports drink company will lose interest in a sport?

Red Bull advertises at virtually every sport on the planet, has team sponsorships as well as sponsoring events for sports teams. Last year, F1 had a race at Red Bull Ring.

The truth is that Renault may leave Red Bull because of "Red Bull wins" and "Renault loses". If Marko worked for me, I'd tell him to stop publicly crying, stop speaking for me, and put his head down while getting back to solving this dilemma!

 

So I suppose they're wanting an "index of performance" adjustment, like the ones that sports car racing tends to implement at least once a year? Like maybe requiring the Mercs to carry 50 extra pounds?

 

I think that RBR is little more than an indulgence for Mateschitz. Selling the team to someone else would have little impact on the fizzy drink maker's bottom line. He might take a bath on the sale but, so what.

 

I don't know why there would be a callus attitude. I welcome teams to the sport. We have had many over the years and the competition and variety has kept the sport interesting. But what I really enjoy is teams staying with us like Sauber and Williams, McLaren have. I want teams that can support themselves as we get enough of the fly by night teams. I have high hopes for teams like Red Bull staying in the sport and supporting it for a long time. All of the teams whine and make nasty threats to abandon, even we do that. But the teams that put a lot of money and effort into the sport and work to help keep it are special and we should not dismiss them so quickly, even if we dismiss their whining.

 

Marko is an annoying whining dipstick, but trouble is, he's right, you know it, I know it, bernie knows it.

Is anyone really excited at the prospect of this years results.?..... only if they are Merc fans, no one else will be as it was predictable last year that merc will win last year and this.

F1 will lose its fan base if they consistently try to destroy the sights and sounds of racing. I don't bother putting my surround sound kit on while I'm watching the race anymore (and didn't even watch qualy live this time around) as its so boring and tame. I watched the race not with excitement, but with resignation that the mercs were clearly in their own race (and I could care less which of them wins or loses) and just to see if ferrari might get somewhere this time around.

Is that what racing is now about? I mean, if you support a marussia or similar, of course you are watching for different reasons, but on the whole, f1 is about various teams fighting to win something, that's the interest, the developments and intricacies of that fight. There is no interest this year, nor last. Nothing to make me as a fan enjoy the actual racing. I just watch the ferraris bumble around, maybe perform better than some others, and that's it. No excitement, no anticipation, no edge of the sofa moments. Who cares?

 

Pack up your drink cans and go annoy someone else.Leave motor racing to car companies who don't cry and threaten to pack up and leave if they don't win.
Look at teams like Ferrari , MB , Williams and McLaren in the sport for the long run because cars and racing are in their DNA and who use it for development and introducing new tech to cars.

The only thing in Red bulls DNA is overexposing their cheap brand and talking themselves up.
The founder of Red Bull didn't even invent his own product , he went to Thailand copied the product and logo and calls it his own.
Happy to see them go!!!!

 

Williams are not a car company and Mercedes are not in this for the long run. They have only just returned after a 50+ year absence.

If we haven't learned already, car companies entering F1 are just as prone to packing up and leaving when the environment is challenging as teams that don't manufacture cars. Its because they realise the tech they develop (if any) isn't quite worth the price of admission for their road car divisions. F1 is almost purely a marketing exercise and nobody wants their huge company losing on a weekly basis to be the message sent, especially when they see the size of the cheques they have to cut to be there.

Honda have left twice before, Toyota have left, BMW, Caterham. Renault pulled their factory effort out as well. One could make a good argument that it is car companies that have distorted the sport beyond all recognition.

 

Force India - Marginal
Sauber - One lawsuit from failure
Manor - Not breathing
Lotus - Marginal
Red Bull - Fully functional and overall in no need of F1 to survive.

There is not much left if they do leave. The series is in need of an overhaul. Red Bull could leave and what is CVC going to do. Im thinking overall Red Bull could provide an adequate defense against CVC and Bernie mis managing the effort quite easily.

Race one provided a glimpse of F1 in terms of reality. Dismal.

 

Great post. I agree in all respects. How could this sport be overhauled in a way all teams would unanimously agree to is my question? Those at the sharp end of the grid would not agree to anything!

 

The same sources suggesting RB leave are the same ones that reveal that Audi/VW want to buy them out.

Next year Haas F1 joins and we have the prospect of Audi/VW joining too along with Renault buying out Toro Rosso.

Potential teams:

RB, Toro Rosso = out
Audi, Renault and Haas F1 = in

Renault's effort will be more in house and concentrated and we would have one of the biggest car conglomerates in the world with a racing pedigree playing catch up to Mercedes in VW along with Ferrari and Mclaren/Honda. Who cares if Red Bull leave? Really?

They are not quite the force they seem to think that they are. I would happily lose that team if it set the wheels in motion for Audi/VW and Renault to come in.

 

I think that there's no doubt that the car makers have been bad for the sport. They come in for PR reasons only with no concern for the good of the sport. They insist on hugely expensive "relevant" engine formulas that only they can finance.

In the case of MB throw huge amounts of money at engine development and end up dominating the competition and alienating fans. If they fail they leave F1 with no concern for the harm they've done.
Without a strong governing body there's no one to stop them.

 

Merc has been in F1 for 20 years now, I think they're fairly committed. Renault has been in F1 for 48 years. Ferrari since the beginning. Yes, some manufacturers have come and gone, but so have a lot more teams. When the manufacturers enter F1 it's usually a long commitment; when a new team does? Not so much.

 

Mercedes have only had a full factory team for 7 years and spent the rest of the time either out all together that spanned decades or as an engine supplier to varying degrees of commitment.

Truth is nobody knows how Mercedes will behave when the tide turns and just how committed they are to have a factory team long term. BMW, Jaguar, Caterham, Toyota etc didn't last long.

Many manufacturers tend to fare better long term in restricting their involvement to engine supplier. Their factory teams don't appear to last much longer than 'new teams' do.

 

Might those new teams have lasted if they weren't up against the industry Goliaths?

Comparing the state of F1 today and that of ten years ago or longer isn't realistic.
The only reason that MB and Renault are still around is the the FIA caved to their demand for a more "relevant" engine spec. They were more than willing to walk if they didn't get their way.
MB may be committed to F1 as a PR venue but they've done more harm to the sport than good.

 

Until that happens and if Bernie leaves VW/Audi are not close to joining this array of confusion. This is not a series on the way up. Its one on the way down. Nothing says join me like major sponsors avoiding it does it? LOL! Ask Ron Dennis.