Red Bull F1 Boss Blasts Team as “Idiots” After Austrian Grand Prix Disaster
Red Bull’s Christian Horner didn’t hold back after a disastrous weekend for his team at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Milton Keynes-based squad faced a slew of setbacks at their home circuit, the Red Bull Ring, with Max Verstappen failing to finish the race after a collision with Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli. The woes continued as Max’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished in the last position among the remaining runners, leaving Red Bull in a precarious position.
The poor performance has raised concerns about what has gone wrong at Red Bull, with the team now sitting in P4 in the constructors’ standings and Verstappen trailing 61 points behind in the drivers’ championship. Horner addressed these issues in an interview with Dutch publication De Telegraaf, stating, “This year also shows that we are hindered with some of our tools. Let me be clear: we don’t want to be in this situation. But this is the same, fundamental group of people who just 18 months ago designed a car that won all but one race. They have not suddenly become idiots.”
With Verstappen out of the race, Red Bull pinned their hopes on Tsunoda to salvage some points at Spielberg. However, the Japanese driver not only finished in 16th place but also received a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points for causing a collision with Franco Colapinto. The Austrian Grand Prix made it evident that the team’s issues extend beyond driver decisions to the performance of their car.
While the main Red Bull F1 team struggled, their junior team Racing Bulls had a more positive weekend, with former Red Bull driver Liam Lawson achieving his best grand prix finish of the season in sixth place. This contrast in performance between the two teams raises further questions about the challenges Red Bull is facing with their F1 car.
As the dust settles from the chaotic Austrian Grand Prix, Red Bull finds themselves grappling with internal strife and external criticism. The team must regroup and strategize to overcome their current hurdles if they aim to reignite their championship hopes in the fiercely competitive world of Formula 1.