Will Red Bull quit Formula 1 soon? 'Maybe this is the end'
F1 News
Dutch Racing driver Jeroen Bleekemolen believes the current problems at Red Bull could be the beginning of the end for the Austrian team. Max Verstappen's fellow countryman potentially sees Red Bull becoming more interested in other sports if the results continue to slide.
It has happened a lot in the history of Formula 1. Teams go through a dominant period and then their assets are slowly pulled away by rival teams. Red Bull Racing have recently seen some big names leave, including Jonathan Wheatley (to Sauber/Audi), Will Courtenay (to McLaren), Rob Marshall (to McLaren) and Adrian Newey (to Aston Martin).
It has been a difficult year for the team of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. The season started with some internal turmoil but the sporting results remained positive. Verstappen picked up seven wins in the first part of the season. However, they have been outdeveloped by McLaren and the Dutchman hasn't won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix in June.
Bleekemolen argues, in the formule1.nl podcast, that all this will affect the team's performance shortly. The driver represented the Netherlands in A1GP, competed in DTM and 24 hours of Le Mans in the LMP1 class.
Bleekemolen sees Red Bull 'falling apart'
The driver and analyst suggested this could continue to spiral. "Maybe it will eventually be the end of Red Bull in Formula 1. Not that they will pull the plug like that, but there is so much going on. If everything falls apart, and Verstappen leaves, then percentage-wise things will go down a lot," Bleekemolen argued.
Red Bull lost their spot at the top of the Constructors' Championship after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Bleekemolen believes this could get worse. "If they then drive in midfield with the four cars they have and the other branch wants to bet more on another sport, they could just drop out of Formula 1."
This article has been created in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen