It’s well known in Formula 1 that if you stand still with your car then you end up going backwards, because others will simply outdevelop you.
But the same is true for team structures too. As the demands of grand prix racing have changed in recent years, and squads experience a perpetual revolving door of personnel, it would be a mistake to become stuck in your ways with how things are run just because that was how it worked best in the past.
So, amid what is proving to be a rollercoaster year for Red Bull – experiencing challenges on and off-track that have included the departure of key figures like Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley – it has opted for a bit of a shake-up.
Amid growing competitiveness up and down the pitlane, and with operational sharpness critical to maximising performance on a race weekend, Red Bull has committed to running things a bit differently for 2025 when it comes to attacking each grand prix.
It is a route that only really opened up for the team following the departure of long-serving sporting director Wheatley, who will be joining Sauber as its new team principal.
As team boss Christian Horner told Autosport in an exclusive interview: “Jonathan moving on to take up a new challenge at Audi has actually provided a great opportunity to just reorganise how we go racing.”
The key changes revolve around splitting up the roles that Wheatley previously had.
Max Verstappen’s long-standing race engineer GianPiero Lambiase (GP) will step up to a new role as Head of Racing.
Former senior strategy engineer Stephen Knowles will be taking on the newly created role of Head of Sporting Regulations, with specific responsibilities to act as the liaison point with the FIA.
Senior engineer of car engineering, Richard Wolverson, will take the new position as Head of Racing Operations, with support from stalwart Tony Burrows. Also, Red Bull’s head of freight operations Gerrard O’Reilly is to take full control of team logistics.
Many of the names may not be well known to fans, but internally they are all viewed as key figures to carry the team forward. As Horner said of the reshuffling: “It’s a step up for everyone. It’s a very strong front manoeuvre.”
Lambiase strengths
Red Bull’s previous trackside structure had remained pretty much untouched since the creation of Red Bull in 2005 – with Wheatley having covered all areas for years.
But F1 is a fast-changing arena and the tightness of the grid, allied to ever more restrictive regulations and the cost cap, has triggered new demands – and forced many outfits to reevaluate how trackside operations are best covered.
This is one of the key catalysts for Red Bull splitting up the responsibilities, because it is no longer a case of finding one person who is jack of all trades, master of none. It now needs masters in all disciplines.
Horner added: “I think the way that the race team used to be was almost a little isolated. They were seen as almost an individual group where parts were fed to, off they would go racing, and then they would come back.
“But I think the way that F1 is evolving, it becomes much more integrated into the bigger picture and processes of F1.”
Horner feels that when it came to finding the perfect fit for the Head of Racing role, there was no one better than Lambiase.
“He is a racer,” said Horner. “I rate him highly. He is pragmatic. He's a straight shooter, and he's been a core part of our team since he originally joined as race engineer [to Daniil Kvyat originally] in 2015. He's done a super job. He is the right fit for that role, and he will remain engineer on Max's car for the foreseeable future, and certainly for '25.”
Asked if there was a danger that the new role could perhaps lead to Lambiase getting distracted from his efforts with Verstappen, he said: “I don't think so, because you've got the silo of people that have all got responsibilities for doing their job.
“The only job that Jonathan didn't have any involvement from others from was really with the interaction in the Sporting Advisory Committee (SAC) with the FIA, where he would just go through an agenda with me prior to a meeting.
“So, I think that, by making a role specific just to deal with that [FIA] element, it puts the right coverage in place.
“And I'm very confident that in GP, Rich and Steve, backed up by Gerard, Phil Turner and Tony Burrows, we've got a fantastic group of people. The responsibility has been handed out between that group, especially doing the jobs that they're doing, but all taking a bit of a step up.”
The risks of being static
The new trackside approach for 2025 comes after a pretty tumultuous season so far – with the final chapters yet to be written.
And while Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is not pretending that a year when the squad has lost top talent like Newey and Wheatley is ideal, he is not someone to waste time dwelling on past decisions.
With both current world championships to play for, the prospect of an ultra-tough 2025 campaign and preparations for it to become its own engine manufacturer in 2026, attention needs to be fully focused on the future.
“How a team and a company works: if you're static, you tend to go backwards,” he said. “We've always had incredible continuity and loyalty in the team.
“Externally, of course, it will look like 'crikey, people are leaving the team'. But people come and go.
“We had a great time with Adrian. He was a big part of our team. But you've got to always be looking forward. You've got to always be continuing to evolve.
“And if I compare the team now to where we started 20 years ago, just in terms of the processes, in terms of the way we operate, and our efficiencies, particularly in a cost cap-driven era, it's a world of difference to where we were even 10 years ago.
“We've developed some great talent internally, and we continue to do so. So, within the team, there's actually a lot of optimism for the future.
“We're taking on a massive challenge in producing our own engine. People underestimate creating a startup company from scratch and bringing circa 550 people in to design and produce an engine. It is no small undertaking, but it's tremendously exciting.
“So, within the campus, there's a real buzz about what's coming for the future, and inevitably, there will always be an element of evolution.”
The current fight
While Horner is working on the foundations to help Red Bull over the long haul, the team still has plenty of unfinished business this season as it knuckles down for the title fight with McLaren and Ferrari.
And while it is not out of the woods yet in having the answers that will turn its RB20 back into a definite winner, Horner sees some signs of progress – especially based on the pace that Sergio Perez showed in Baku.
“Some of the lessons that we've learned from Monza, we addressed some of them in Azerbaijan, and some of the characteristics that we have struggled with we've managed to improve,” he said.
“I think, particularly with Checo, his performance and tyre degradation was very strong in the [Baku] race. He was the first of the top three to pit, and his tyres were better at the end of the race than Charles [Leclerc’s].
“It was a shame that he didn't manage to capitalize with at least a podium. He was at the very least in third, probably would have finished second and could have won it if he hadn't been held by Lando [Norris], obviously during his out-lap. He also lost a bit of time with Alex Albon.
“But I think that we've got a direction now, and it's now a matter of extracting the performance and getting that performance on the car.
“I think we made a step forwards in Azerbaijan. It'd be interesting to see how that plays out in Singapore this weekend.”
