Red Bull, the general manager is in the Jeddah paddock
He arrived in the Jeddah paddock to show the support and closeness of the Red Bull company to the Red Bull team at this objectively very complicated time. General Manager Oliver Mintzlaff was repeatedly photographed in friendly conversations with the two executives who, since the team’s debut back in 2005, have shaped the racing saga of a brand that, until then, had been primarily associated with the sale of energy drinks. Twelve months after the scandal and the subsequent power struggle for supremacy inside the garage, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko are still there, in their respective leadership roles. And that, in itself, is already big news, given that right here in Jeddah in 2024, Marko’s departure from the paddock had seemed imminent, only to be averted by the explicit intervention of Max Verstappen.
Technical rehearsals for peace between Helmut Marko and Christian Horner
A year later, or just over, Mintzlaff returns to the scene of the near-crisis, to support the team at a time when all the talk is about the possible imminent departure of Super Max. And to make a general rehearsal aimed at turning the current armed truce between Helmut Marko and Christian Horner into real peace. “I have full confidence in every single employee,” said the Red Bull general manager in an interview with German newspaper Bild, “and that includes our management team. Helmut and Christian both want success and will do everything possible to achieve it. We spoke about it again in recent days.”
“Has their relationship deteriorated? Clearly every relationship has its ups and downs,” he added. “Let’s not forget that at the next Grand Prix in Miami, the two will mark their 400th race together. It was Helmut who hired Christian in 2005, and they share many things. With all this pressure, emotion and passion, feelings can sometimes run high. But then you have to sit down and talk it through behind closed doors. And that’s what we’re doing.”
Mintzlaff supports Lawson’s Liam demotion
Helmut Marko and Christian Horner, for their part, jointly made the decision to demote Liam Lawson back to Racing Bulls after only two races alongside Max Verstappen, in order to promote Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda instead. A decision that Mintzlaff fully defended: “There was criticism, I understand it and I think it was reasonable. But it was the right move. Formula 1 is a high-performance sport, and Liam’s performances weren’t good. Keeping him in the car would have been wrong; we wouldn’t have done him any favors by increasing the pressure on him. In the end, he understood that and accepted it. And we are happy to have him back in Racing Bulls.” At least on this matter, there wasn’t much disagreement between Helmut Marko and Christian Horner…
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