Why Red Bull should worry after departure of yet another frontrunner
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- Ludo van Denderen
Red Bull Racing's press release contained mere words of praise for Jonathan Wheatley, the outgoing sporting director of the Austrian team. Just as Christian Horner has had to regularly eulogise in recent months after yet another prominent departure at the Austrians. Meanwhile, there's a gap at the top of the organisation. To name a few prominent names: Adrian Newey is leaving to an unknown destination, Rob Marshall already transferred to McLaren and now Wheatley. Slowly, Red Bull must be worried that so many key people are leaving.
People at lower levels also left Red Bull recently. This is perfectly normal, because in Formula 1, mechanics, engineers and other staff regularly change racing team. But at Red Bull, it is noteworthy that precisely a number of leading figures in the organisation have recently sought refuge elsewhere. Not because they have been fired - as regularly happens with people in management - but because they prefer to work elsewhere.
The exact motives of everyone who leaves is mostly guesswork, although it is known that Adrian Newey felt internally ignored and, moreover, was certainly not happy with the saga surrounding Horner and his former assistant. Wheatley always had the dream of one day working as a team boss, and Audi offered him that opportunity. Perhaps in his case - unlike with Newey - there was no chance for Red Bull to keep the Briton on board (unless a successor to Horner had to be found).
Success in Formula 1 thanks to consistency
In Formula 1, consistency within the organisation is a major key to success. That people like Newey and Wheatley did valuable and good work for a long time can be seen from the fact that they each worked for Red Bull for almost two decades. Their knowledge and expertise is going to be missed, although it could just be that capable people are warming up to replace them and do just as good a job.
Still, Red Bull must slowly be getting seriously worried that so many key people are leaving. Not only does that probably weaken its own ranks, moreover - and this is very relevant - the competition with former Red Bull people actually gets stronger. A good example is the aforementioned Rob Marshall, who was fairly sidelined at the Austrians. He switched to McLaren and coincidence or not, that team has since passed Red Bull in terms of performance.
Knowledge of Wheatley is going to be missed
For years, Wheatley was regarded as Red Bull's conscience and enquirer. If you wanted to know something, whether it was technical or about something in the FIA's sporting regulations, Wheatley knew the answer quickly. His knowledge was golden and Audi is certainly going to benefit from it. Just as McLaren benefits from Marshall's know-how, and an as yet unknown team is going to benefit from everything Newey knows.
Within an organisation with a thousand employees, there are always people who leave. That cannot be stopped. But for Red Bull, it is important that not too much of the old guard leaves. After all, that will make Red Bull less and its competitors stronger.
This article has been written in collaboration with Matt Gretton