Laurent Mekies has denied any conflict of interest between Red Bull Racing and its sister team Racing Bulls following claims from its rival Formula 1 teams.
Red Bull’s acquisition of the struggling Minardi team in 2005 resulted in the parent company having two F1 teams for the past 21 seasons. But whilst they both fall under the same parent company, and share similar names, they are individual entities.
But in recent years, this dual ownership has sparked lots of controversy amongst its rivals. Whilst both teams may adhere to the strict FIA sporting guidelines, which highlight that neither team should share its core aerodynamic principles, some are under the impression that the teams can work to exploit on-track action.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has continually spoken about this issue, claiming that it is ‘unfair’ to the nine other F1 teams, who don’t have the benefit of a ‘sister-team’. Mercedes Team Principal furthered these comments, viewing it as a competitive advantage. But Mekies maintains that both teams comply with the FIA’s regulations.
“Look, we are supporting 11 teams racing independently on track. And it’s a matter of regulations in order to ensure that 11 teams race independently on the track,” Medkies highlighted.
The Frenchman also drew comparisons with other teams on the grid who share components. For example, Mercedes supplies power units to McLaren, Williams and Alpine yet all race independently.
“It doesn’t matter if they are co-owned or if they have the same PU or if they have the same gearbox or the same suspensions; we need to all race independently.”
Mekies defends F1 situation for Red Bull
One of the main critiques from Brown and Wolff was Mekies’ immediate promotion to Red Bull last season. Christian Horner’s mid-season departure sent shock waves throughout the paddock; however, his replacement was already organised. Mekies made the step up from Racing Bulls to the senior team seemingly with ease.
Ultimately raising questions amongst his rivals, who believed the close relationship Mekies had with Racing Bulls could influence on-track racing. However, Mekies was forced to shut down these rumours, emphasising that proper protocol is adhered to.
“To your point, there is an extremely precise and detailed regulations about transfer of personnel and the minimum time of gardening leave between a team and another team,” Mekies said.
“Not only do we respect, obviously, the FIA regulations, but also we self-impose on ourselves higher time to make sure that we won’t fall in these sorts of discussions. It is obviously not enough, hence we are supporting it.
So I think it’s a lot of gaming, gaming situations.”
Another talking point was Miami, where Verstappen looked to have passed Lawson with ease. The Red Bull Team Principal explained they would be ‘silly’ to employ such a strategy on a global stage.
“As for the overtaking, I would like you guys to have a look, as we said this I think already a couple of races ago. Have a look at all the interactions on tracks between Racing Bulls and Oracle Red Bull Racing.
“Since the beginning of the year, you will have many, many samples because, unfortunately, our car was not very competitive at the beginning of the year. So you will have many, many samples. Our analysis is telling us that it’s the most difficult track. The most difficult midfield car for us to get through.
“We will be more than silly, knowing all the attention in the world that there is on this topic. To be thinking of having a treatment that would not be compatible with the sporting regulations.”
Despite claims from rivals, the FIA have not suggested there are any issues with the sister teams involvement within the sport.
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