Austrian love-in for Red Bull

They didn’t exactly put flowers in their hair or dance around in a circle holding hands, but the key players – drivers, team bosses and engineers – from both Red Bull Formula 1 teams got together in Austria last weekend for what large business corporations would probably call a “bonding session.”

A group of around thirty people from Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso, including all the drivers except Neel Jani, turned up at Hangar-7 on Saturday morning, where they were given the guided tour before heading out of Salzburg to visit company headquarters in Fuschl. Everyone seemed suitably awed by the impressive facility, which takes some doing when you consider that many of them came from the thriving metropolis that is Milton Keynes!

Usually when companies organise these “team-building” exercises, they involve some sort of quasi-dangerous pursuit like white water rafting or abseiling, but given that these people are already involved in the exciting sport of F1, this group had a quieter time. It had been suggested that the drivers should spend the night camping out in the mountains, but no volunteers came forward for the job of leaving mini chocolates on their pillows or delivering fresh fluffy towels in the morning! But they did brave the cold, to watch the Red Bull Salzburg football club defeat Rapid 2-nil.

Salzburg is Christmas card pretty at this time of year and our crew enjoyed their time in the city, fighting off the cold with the occasional glass of Glühwein, (mulled wine.) Saturday night then melted into Sunday morning and everyone gathered for brunch at the Red Bull-owned Carpe Diem restaurant before heading off for their various homes.