It's no coincidence that now we are arrive at the Red Bull Ring, Red Bull's PR juggernaut is in full swing. These last 3 days my twitter feed has seen the tempestuous triumvirate of Horner, Mateschitz and Marko threatening to leave "unless the rules are changed" or "if by some miracle, Renault become competitive".bhall II wrote:Translation: "I was never interested in competing in Formula One, only the exposure gained from winning in Formula One."
To a certain extent, that's maybe understandable. But, personally, I want every team for whom that's the case to leave. Such unabashed self-interest is killing the sport, because it results in senseless regulations that have been pulled in a million different directions. I think there's no better time than now to cleanse F1 of these influences.
The basic premise is that if they can't win, they want out.
I have not seen a team go to these lengths at any point in F1's history. When Williams lost their edge in 1998, I don't recall any public threats to quit. The same of McLaren in 2001, and Ferrari in 2009.
Some just quit without the need to denigrate the sport as Renault, Toyota, Honda and BMW did sans the blackmail route that Red Bull have taken.
It's the crassness of these political machinations which riles most fans. Is the situation perfect? Very far from it.
But there is a way to go about bringing change and Red Bull are beyond clueless on this front.
Jenny Gow asked Mateschitz for a few words this morning, and he walked off stipulating that "I don't do interviews".
However 24 hours previously, he was in full verse savaging Renault of "sapping the will and motivation" out of Red Bull.
Mateschitz does speak, when he wants to and when it suits him and his team.
And this gives you enough of a clue as to his mentality.
Lauda/Wolff, Arrivabene, Williams, Dennis, Tost and co all know there needs to be change. We know there needs to be change. Bernie knows it too.
It will happen, the question is when....2017 at the earliest.
Until that time, Red Bull need to shut up and deal with their problems in-house....as any respectable company would.
My suggestion would also include a blanket ban mention of Renault in singularity, instead referred to as Red Bull Renault, or the more corporate Infiniti Red Bull Renault.
I would then suggest any mentions of the rules be kept in working group or team meetings. Keep your dirty laundry indoors...or risk the avalanche of ridicule I have seen on social media...it ain't pretty.
There is also the very real possibility that we could have a barnstorming race on our hands this weekend. And boy, I'd love to see a panning wide angle 1080p slow mo of Mateshitz and co's faces if a classic occurs in their own backyard.
The bottom line is, Red bull need F1 more than F1 needs Red Bull. Red Bull leave and there will be suitors to invest, of that there is no debate. But at what price to Red Bull and their oft inflated "legacy"?
Even the Renault sniping has backfired spectacularly. They're stuck with F1 unless they want to sully their own image.
Jonathan Neale of Mclaren has the gist.
" 'This is a sport and to win a race you have to be pretty good at everything. It is a meritocracy. The guys at the front are doing a really good job. When it is all predictable, we get endless whining from journalists, pundits and some people in the sport. The moment we serve up something that throws up a bit of jeopardy and anguish, I thought that's what people wanted. Come on, get on with it. The rules are the same for everybody. As a top team we shouldn't be performing like this.'
