Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff is adamant that he is “not worried” despite key figures leaving its Formula 1 team in the last couple of seasons.
The Milton Keynes-based squad’s dominant grip on the ground effects era of F1 had been slowly faltering since mid-way through the 2024 season.
It culminated at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as Max Verstappen lost out on a fifth consecutive World Championship as McLaren wrapped up its first double title since 1998.
Amid this, Red Bull also saw a major reshuffle amongst its ranks with key figures like Jonathon Wheatley and Adrian Newey announcing their departures last year.
In July this year, Christian Horner was also shown the exit door, after leading the team to six Constructors’ and eight Drivers’ titles since its inception in 2005.
After the race weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit, team advisor Helmut Marko also called it quits on his time in the sport and with the Austrian energy drinks giants.
One would hence not be remiss to think Mintzlaff, who took over the reins of the Company after the passing of co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz in October 2022, would be ringing internal alarm bells after such important departures.
The reality, however, is quite different from the German would have you believe. “I’m not worried,” he told De Telegraaf. “Because I know we’re replacing all those people properly.
“In Germany and Austria, and perhaps in the Netherlands too, I see that people generally don’t like change. But I do like it.
“Because I know it makes us better. And yes, you just have to step out of your comfort zone for a bit.”
Mintzlaff hints at reason for sacking Horner
Horner’s sacking sent shockwaves throughout the paddock. But it would appear that the writing had been on the wall for quite some time in the Briton’s case.
Horner was put under investigation after a Red Bull employee had alleged inappropriate behaviour on his part. While the Briton was subsequently acquitted, a suspected political showdown had already started to transpire in the background.
Marko hinted at this being a key factor in Horner’s ousting. Mintzlaff, however, surmised it was more to do with the fact that Horner had failed to turn around a seemingly sinking Red Bull F1 ship.
“I’m really not going to change anything if I think everything is going well,” he explained.
“Last year we already saw things were going a bit wrong. Then you give the people in charge the chance to turn things around this year.
“I’m not going to suddenly crack down after two or three bad races. But last July was the moment to do what we did.”
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