Red Bull faces the potential loss of up to £15.5 million ($20 million) in Constructors’ Championship prize money if they finish the season in third place. Additionally, factory employees could miss out on substantial bonuses after two years of championship success.
The Milton Keynes team had a difficult weekend in Mexico City, where Max Verstappen finished sixth following two 10-second penalties, while Sergio Perez struggled to 17th place after sustaining damage in a collision with VCARB’s Liam Lawson.
Meanwhile, Red Bull’s rivals McLaren and Scuderia Ferrari capitalized, with Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, and Charles Leclerc all securing podium finishes. With the Maranello team’s back-to-back Grand Prix wins, Red Bull has now slipped to third in the Constructors’ standings.
Each position in the standings is estimated to be worth around £7.8 million ($10 million), meaning a third-place finish would be a severe financial setback for Christian Horner‘s team.
Red Bull’s factory employees could be among those hardest hit. After the team’s dominant 2023 Constructors’ Championship victory, all factory employees reportedly received a bonus of around £10,000. However, such bonuses may not be offered in 2024. Max Verstappen’s difficulties in Mexico City mean that Red Bull remains winless over the last ten Grands Prix, and with an engine penalty anticipated for him in Brazil, an immediate turnaround seems unlikely.
Prominent Red Bull mechanic Calum Nicholas highlighted the significance of these bonuses on the Sky Sports F1 podcast during their victorious 2023 campaign, underscoring the positive impact they have on team morale and motivation.
“We get a bonus from the Constructors’ Championship,” he explained. “Then there are various little bonus schemes for like race victories and things like that. It’s nice. It’s obviously nice to get, no one saying it’s not nice.”
Calum Nicholas also pointed out that “I don’t think it motivates you anymore purely because you are motivated to win. I’ve always said that, you know people who work in the sport, they are there because they love racing.” – he added.
Red Bull seems headed for a third-place finish this season, but predicting the ultimate Constructors’ Champion remains a challenging task. McLaren currently holds a 29-point lead at the top, yet Ferrari’s recent back-to-back victories have added fresh momentum to their campaign as they approach the Brazilian Grand Prix. The battle for the title is far from over, with Ferrari’s surge making it anyone’s game in the final stages.
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