Red Bull have warned they could quit F1 unless the sport’s regulations are overhauled in the wake of Mercedes’ crushing victory in the Australian GP. The former world champions finished the season-opening event a lap down on runaway leaders Mercedes, who have dominated the sport since the advent of F1’s new power-centric turbo era. According to Helmut Marko, an advisor to Dietrich Mateschitz, the Red Bull magnate who owns both the eponymous outfit and its junior team Toro Rosso, the group could withdraw from the sport at the end of the year.
“We will evaluate the situation again [in the summer] as every year and look into costs and revenues,” Marko was quoted telling the Austrian media in Melbourne. “If we are totally dissatisfied we could contemplate an F1 exit. The danger is there that Mr Mateschitz loses his passion for F1.” The warning comes despite Red Bull having signed a deal with F1’s commercial right controller, Bernie Ecclestone, committing themselves until 2020. Speaking on Monday, Ecclestone said he didn’t think Mateschitz would walk away simply because his team wasn’t dominating anymore.
“Whether they will, who knows?,” he told Reuters. “Dieter is a sporting guy and I don’t think he’ll stop because he’s being beaten. He’s more likely to stop if he was winning.” Red Bull endured a torrid weekend in Australia, with the car of Daniil Kvyat breaking down on the formation lap and Daniel Ricciardo lapped by both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Formula One already allows for independent engine suppliers. Any company can design a customer engine for Formula One right now and sell it to a team. The current Formula One Sporting Regulations, “Appendix 9: Supply Of Power Units”, explains this in detail. The only thing keeping the likes of Audi or anyone else from making an F1 engine right now is the very complex engine formula and the cost associated with it. That, and the risk/reward factor. There is no guarantee that the engine will actually be as good as it needs to be. Honda can tell you all about that.
If Red Bull and Formula One are already getting what Dr. Marko is asking for, why is he threatening to leave the sport? Keep in mind, Red Bull have threatened to leave many times in last several years. When one looks at the totality of these threats, it seems to suggest one thing: Red Bull say they will leave because Red Bull isn’t winning. After winning four consecutive Driver’s and Constructor’s Championships from 2010 to 2013, Red Bull has been off its game. With the introduction of the current engines, the Renault power units the team used were no longer the top of the field.
