Former Jaguar (--->RBR) driver, now Brazilian stock car racer, Luciano Burti has today opened up
about what is going on at Red Bull and RBR.
Translated from Portuguese.
RBR is giving Pérez an ultimatum: if he loses his vice-presidential position, Ricciardo will take over in 2024
Even with a renewed contract, the Mexican is at serious risk of leaving the team.
The move would open up a vacancy for Liam Lawson at AlphaTauri. Helmut Marko, consultant, is also in the spotlight
RBR informed Perez: "Try to secure second place in the last five races this year, otherwise you will be out of the team next season."
If he fails to meet the target, his replacement has already been defined: it will be 34-year-old Australian Daniel Ricciardo.
Since the Miami GP in May, when Verstappen humiliated his teammate on the track, the Mexican has never been able to perform in the same way.
Political struggle: Helmut Marko in the spotlight
However, the Sergio Pérez issue is not the only political movement going on behind the scenes at champion RBR. In fact, the team has been on the boil since the death of Dietrich Mateschitz, co-founder of the energy drink maker, last October.
Tension between Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, Didi Mateschitz's former right-hand man , has long existed. But the struggle for power increased with the death of the tycoon.
And Horner has been trying to get rid of Marko for some time
to take control of the group's Formula One operation as a whole.
The English chief executive already has a big influence at AlphaTauri: he participated in most decisions about drivers and the change of directors - including the arrival of new CEO Peter Bayer, former executive director of the International Automobile Federation (FIA).
Horner even wants to get rid of Yuki Tsunoda.
The former Austrian racing driver's future within the Red Bull group will be determined at a company board meeting this week.
For the first time in many years, since the brand's entry into Formula One in 2005, Marko is at serious risk of losing his position within the energy drink manufacturer's teams in motorsport's biggest category.
And if it depends on Christian Horner, the veteran's future will be far from RBR and AlphaTauri. Even the current champion is not immune to political crises.
Not everything is rosy in the kingdom of Milton Keynes.
https://ge.globo.com/motor/formula-1/no ... 2024.ghtml