Red Bull notice impact of budget cap: 'Fighting for every employee'
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F1 News
- Corwin Kunst
Red Bull Racing have seen the departure of some of their top performers in recent years, partly due to the cost cap. The Austrian racing team cannot just give everyone a million-dollar salary and that causes a lot of hassle. Helmut Marko knows the competition is trying to take advantage of this, but promises to "fight for every employee".
If you are successful, you attract the interest of other teams. Dan Fallows (Aston Martin), Rob Marshall (McLaren), Lee Stevenson (Audi), Adrian Newey (unknown) and Jonathan Wheatley (Audi) all left for other teams to take up a new challenge. But above all because they could make more money there that Red Bull could offer them.
Wheatley has been the team manager of the Milton Keynes-based team for many years, but there was no real prospect of getting a promotion. Indeed, only Christian Horner is still above him and the 50-year-old Briton does not look set to leave anytime soon. Audi tempted Wheatley by offering him the position of team principal as well as a big bag of money."We could not have matched that," Marko acknowledged in conversation with Auto, Motor und Sport.
The top positions at Red Bull are limited and so are the financial resources. While the salaries of just three top earners do not have to be counted towards the cost cap, the paychecks of all other staff do. The team of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez is tied hand and foot to the budget cap and can only spend their money once.
Red Bull 'fighting' for employees
Salary increases for the likes of them are therefore out of the question, which is why Red Bull has to be creative and smart when it comes to its own workforce. However, Marko is content with the current line-up. "We are broad and well-positioned, and we will fight for every employee," said the team advisor, who has no intention of letting just any more key people leave for competitors.
Importantly for Red Bull, therefore, key leaders (recently) extended their contracts. Paul Monaghan, Pierre Waché, Enrico Balbo and Ben Waterhouse all signed a new, long-term commitment.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi
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