00:00Surprise news, but was it a surprise to you?
00:03I think it's completely out of the blue, given things that are going on
00:08and the sort of problems in the team, words you're getting out of Team Verstappen and others.
00:16I'm quite sad about it, if I'm honest.
00:18I consider Christian a friend and he's done an incredible job there for 20 years,
00:23won an awful lot of races and world championships for drivers and for the team.
00:28And he took it from what was the Stewart team through Jaguar.
00:33And it was struggling to a massive campus in Milton Keynes and an awful lot of success
00:40and a huge trophy cabinet.
00:42So, but, you know, it's not been difficult to feel in the Formula One paddock
00:49and to observe and to hear that things were not particularly rosy.
00:54Do you feel that that sort of breakdown in the relationship following that investigation,
01:00which, of course, he always denied and he was cleared as well by internal and external investigations into that,
01:06it sort of wasn't really repaired off the back of that and that caused these sort of divisions?
01:11I think that's probably part of it.
01:17I believe it's probably performance related as well.
01:22I don't know.
01:24I think that I think it perhaps makes it more likely that Verstappens will stay there.
01:32I think that came quite personal in, shall we call it, Team Verstappen.
01:38So I think there are a number of aspects, but particularly that the car is struggling.
01:47Although they've won races this year, of course, they've won races brilliantly this year.
01:51So I'm due to speak to Christian a bit later in the day for the message to him to say,
01:56sorry to read that, in fact, I said to him, can we have a chat before I have to go on TV?
02:02Because I want to know more about it from his point of view.
02:06And he wasn't able to do that.
02:09What he did say to me was that no reason was given to him as to why he's been released.
02:14So that's the only hard information I have on that.
02:18But, you know, nothing's forever.
02:21Things move on and Red Bull have already put in place significant changes.
02:27Laurent Mackey comes over from Racing Bulls, their junior team, sister team.
02:31Alan Vermein takes over the reins there.
02:33So, you know, they've very quickly put into place solutions.
02:38You mentioned as well that you hinted that Max Verstappen obviously looks likely to continue with the team.
02:49But what about the future for Verstappen?
02:51How does this change things?
02:54Well, it remains to be seen.
02:55I mean, every point, podium, victory and world championship Max has through his own genius driving,
03:03it must be said, is in a Red Bull car.
03:07And he's often stated he wants to see his career out there if he can.
03:13But, you know, they're debuting their own engine for the first time next year
03:18in what is going to be the biggest change in Formula One history of car and power unit at the same time.
03:24So, you know, Christian's been in the seat and driving that aspect of the team along completely.
03:34So we know that Max has an exit clause based on where he is in the world championship at the end of this month.
03:45Does this mean he's more likely to go, more likely to stay?
03:48I can only surmise it means he's more likely to stay at the team.
03:52Look, Christian's been at the helm there for an incredible, as you mentioned, I mean, 20 years.
03:59How difficult will it be for them to move on?
04:03Obviously, we're, you know, through the season at the moment as well,
04:06just off the back of the British Grand Prix.
04:08You've got a couple of weeks before you go again.
04:12Yeah, you know, the people that they're putting in place have got a lot of experience in Formula One.
04:18And the sort of maverick team boss, that era is, the teams are so big now, that era is moving away.
04:30It's more a collection of specialists in different management roles rather than one team talisman out there, if you like.
04:39So, you know, there's momentum, incredible momentum in these teams.
04:46They've got well over 1,000 people making two racing cars to go around the circuit 24 times a year.
04:51That's obviously underplaying the incredible complexity of Formula One cars and a Formula One season.
04:59But they are, I don't see, the team are not going to fall over immediately because, as I said,
05:07they've got momentum structures in place, people in place.
05:10And, you know, we'll see.
05:13I mean, this all really, for me, this all goes back to Dietrich Mateschitz dying,
05:17the originator, the 49% owner of Red Bull, who started it together with the Uvidia family, I should say,
05:26back in the day, and he was in charge.
05:30Nothing happened without Dietrich Mateschitz signing off.
05:35And he was the absolute leader of that group.
05:40And I think you've seen since his death and all sorts of other people and structures coming in,
05:47you can see where it all started to go wrong, frankly.
05:51Could you tell us a little bit more about Laurent Mechies?
05:54Is, obviously, the new CEO of Red Bull Racing?
05:59A lot of experience at Ferrari and teams at the FIA.
06:04And we're seeing this more and more now.
06:06I mean, look at the incredible job, for example, Andrea Stella's doing at McLaren as team principal
06:12with James Fowles at Williams, people with a technical background, a team background,
06:19sort of in the driving seat of that aspect of, as I said, massive organisations now.
06:26So Laurent, I think, has done a great job at racing bulls.
06:31And clearly, they've seen that within the Red Bull group and immediately moved him over.
06:36Jonathan Wheatley, who I think would have fancied that job big time,
06:42has moved over to Switzerland for the Sauber that becomes Audi team.
06:47And I think the fact that he fancied that Christian's job perhaps expedited that, may I say.
06:56But, yeah, so this is what we're seeing now.
07:00And then Alan Permain, who's taken over from Laurent Mechies at Racing Bull,
07:04has a huge amount of experience of the operational side of a Formula One team,
07:11rather than, say, that sort of maverick leader, as it were.
07:16Martin, look, we really appreciate you speaking to us.
07:18I know you'd have hoped to have spoken to Christian before you joined us as well.
07:21So hopefully you do get that chat in.
07:23But we really appreciate it.
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