With Red Bull in an “apparent recent civil war”, Martin Brundle believes those moments “must have destabilised the team” in some way.
Max Verstappen suffered his first retirement in 43 races at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend, with Sergio Perez finishing fifth after wasting downforce on his home floor, but talks around the team have continued throughout the season.
Australia has arguably been the quietest weekend of the season so far when it comes to Red Bull’s off-track events, with the fallout following the internal investigation into team principal Christian Horner, compounded by Jos Verstappen’s public comments of discontent and fear of an imaginable Helmut Marko. suspension.
Those moments seem to have died down for the time being, but the on-track performance this weekend was the team’s worst performance in a long time.
Given this, Brundle wonders whether, when the season resumes at Suzuka, they will be able to pick up where they left off as the dominant force on the field.
“In Japan, a track that suits Red Bull well, and that will tell how close Ferrari and others can be. Or even at the front,” Brundle wrote in his post column to Australia Sky Sports.
“Red Bull’s recent and obvious civil war between key players will have had destabilised the team. Will it take time to manifest or have we already noticed some of the effects in Australia?Or did peace erupt fast enough for them to remain the steering wheel?And the dominant, winning impulse intact?
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Part of the verbal exchange around Red Bull has been the sudden doubt over Max Verstappen’s future, despite his contract with the team until 2028.
While the three-time world champion has shown that his “intention” is to see the full length of his contract with his current team, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is circling around.
He proved over the weekend that Verstappen is Mercedes’ “number one” target to upgrade Lewis Hamilton in the 2025 season as the seven-time world champion prepares to depart for Ferrari.
Speaking to Fox Sports in Australia, Wolff said: “It’s the kind of appointment that has to take place at a certain time, but we don’t know when.
Asked directly if Dutchman Mercedes would be the ‘number one’ of the national team for 2025, Wolff confirmed: “Yes, I mean, you see what his degrees of functionality are. But I don’t need to forget about others either. “
“I think we have to look at ourselves and ask ourselves what we can do with this car. Then it becomes a lot less difficult, whoever drives the second car, it’s a lot less difficult for George [Russell] because he has the potential to be world champion and a lot more.
“That’s the challenge the team needs to solve, rather than looking for a miracle solution with an incredible driver.
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