Apr.29 (GMM) Red Bull is “falling apart” under Christian Horner’s leadership, warns former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher.
Amid widespread reporting that Adrian Newey has told Red Bull Racing he wants to leave the team before the end of 2024, his next move is now the subject of the latest wild speculation.
Huge-money offers are rumoured to have been made by Aston Martin, Ferrari and perhaps even Mercedes – amid f1-insider.com’s latest claim that Max Verstappen is set for post-Miami GP talks with top Mercedes figures.
Involved in those talks will be Toto Wolff, Max’s managers Jos Verstappen and Raymond Vermeulen, as well as Mercedes shareholder Jim Ratcliffe and Mercedes CEO Ola Kallenius.
A package worth an incredible EUR 150 million per year for Verstappen, 26, is said to be on the table.
“Verstappen and Newey – will Red Bull lose them both?” Corriere dello Sport newspaper in Italy wonders.
Schumacher told Sky Deutschland: “Adrian Newey needs harmony, a good atmosphere – a workplace. And at the moment, you have to say clearly: Red Bull is falling apart.
“Christian Horner bears sole responsibility for this,” the former F1 driver added. “He is clinging to power with all his might.
“I give Red Bull two more years and if they continue to hold on to Horner, the team will sink into mediocrity. I’m pretty sure of that,” Schumacher said.
Former Ferrari driver Ivan Capelli thinks Newey is “unlikely” to choose Ferrari over a UK-based option, but he warned: “If he does come, it will be because he can bring some of his most loyal colleagues with him.”
According to top Dutch F1 journalist Erik van Haren, meanwhile, what the latest Newey and Verstappen rumours suggest is that all is not well at Red Bull despite the recent appearance of calm amid the power struggle and turmoil.
“Even those who fanatically declared that everything is fine again at Red Bull must now change tactic,” he wrote in his De Telegraaf column.