At Red Bull Racing, Helmut Marko always decided which driver got a spot in the team. Christian Horner’s conversation with Fernando Alonso about a possible seat with the Austrian team at least suggests that the British team boss has bypassed Marko in this area (this time). Former F1 driver Christijan Albers does not understand why Alonso is an option for Red Bull at all. Instead, he would go all out to make Max Verstappen more comfortable.
A few weeks ago, Horner said that if a driver wants to leave, he can go. That message was obviously directed at Max Verstappen, who is clearly fed up with the internal power struggle within his team. It’s still a possibility that Verstappen will leave Red Bull Racing at the end of 2024. Albers finds it strange that neither party within Red Bull openly speaks out in favour of the other, as in his view everyone within the Austrian team needs each other.
Albers sees ‘double agenda’ at Red Bull
In De Telegraaf’s F1 podcast, Albers says that “everyone has a double agenda”. “I miss commitment from both sides,” Albers stated. “The statement to the outside world that you hold each other’s hands. You notice that there are double agendas. And remember, if you stop winning with a team, you can go down the drain very quickly. Then such a team splinters.”
According to Albers, “the biggest problem” is that Dietrich Mateschitz is no longer there to keep things together and – if necessary – put a lot of extra euros into the team. Albers also wonders aloud what would happen to Red Bull if Verstappen leaves the team, now that it remains unsettled. For that, he looks at Horner in particular: “Either they haven’t thought about this, that’s also possible. Or there is a certain arrogance is that he thinks his Formula 1 team is so good that another driver – and a problem is that there are not that many options – can do it too.”
Albers does not see Alonso as a solution
In such a case, Alonso would be one of the few drivers who could come in as Verstappen’s replacement. Albers sees in him no more than a temporary solution. “Then you only have one year. You don’t know how long he will be spicy. That can turn around in one go. Then you get one of those Micheal Schumacher moments at Mercedes, that all of a sudden it’s no longer possible. Then the body has to cope, the bumping in the car. Your explosiveness becomes less,” Albers said, advising Red Bull to do everything possible to keep Verstappen on board.
