Red Bull is all at sea with the performance of the RB20 for the past few races. And their upgrades have also not helped to mitigate the car’s issues on track. However, F1 expert, Marc Priestley feels that the internal restlessness at the Milton Keynes outfit since the start of this season could be the reason behind this downfall.
Even before the 2024 season got underway, Red Bull were facing a big off-track controversy surrounding Christian Horner’s alleged “inappropriate behavior” with a female employee. This led to multiple issues like a reported internal power struggle between Helmut Marko and Horner with even Jos Verstappen calling for the British boss’ dismissal.
A few months back, Priestley had predicted that these internal issues may cause high-profile exits at Red Bull. And that prediction came right with Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley set to leave the team in 2025.
Priestley said in his Dutch GP debrief YouTube video, “It’s not all plain sailing. There are people leaving, there are people moving around, lots of stuff is changing at Red Bull right now.”
BREAKING: Red Bull confirm Adrian Newey will leave the team in early 2025#F1 pic.twitter.com/x0IEZfzYNg
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 1, 2024
Now, the Austrian team may deny that their team structure is strong, and that such events won’t affect their on-track performance. Although, such internal tussles and key personnel exits can often unsettle any F1 team’s state on all fronts.
Besides, when the big pillars of the team such as Horner and Marko are reportedly at odds with Newey and Wheatley leaving, Red Bull will be facing a lot of uncertainty.
This could have distracted them from producing effective upgrades as they seem a bit lost with their car development relative to McLaren. Priestley also stated that Red Bull’s RBPT engine program for 2026 could also be affected. If so, it directly impacts Max Verstappen’s future plans of staying at the team.
Will Red Bull’s struggles lead Verstappen to take the tough call?
Priestley highlighted that Red Bull will be trying their level best to assure Verstappen about its 2026 prospects with updates about their engine program. Even the Dutchman is keen on staying at the team given he has a contract till the end of 2028.
However, Red Bull is a novice team in terms of engine manufacturing and their indigenous engine program is a big risk. Meanwhile, Mercedes is trying to take advantage of the same to try and poach Verstappen, given their past reputation of nailing engine regulations.
For now, Toto Wolff has stepped back by mistakenly confirming Kimi Antonelli for the 2025 season as a Mercedes driver. However, Wolff has kept the door open about wanting to sign Verstappen in 2026 or beyond.
The Austrian recently also said that they have a good relationship with the Verstappens and there have been reports of meetings happening during the summer to discuss a Mercedes future. However, when the three-time champion was asked about it in Zandvoort, he cluelessly answered the question to deny any links with the Silver Arrows.
