It has been an extremely busy fortnight for Red Bull, following the ‘Cashgate’ scandal and the saddening death of the energy drink’s co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
The Austrian side will be likely wanting things to return to some form of normality, given how unusual things have been since the FIA announced that the side had exceeded the 2021 budget cap.
A day after Max Verstappen sealed his second Drivers’ Championship, the FIA declared that the Austrians had exceeded the $145 million cap by $2.2 million, deeming it as a ‘minor’ breach.
All the build-up towards the United States Grand Prix was then based around the scandal; however, all conversations of the topic were halted during the weekend at the Circuit of the Americas following Mateschitz’s death.
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It was announced prior to qualifying at COTA that the brand’s co-founder had lost his battle following a long bout of illness, meaning motorsport lost one of its most influential figures.
This has, of course, left a huge role to be filled at the company, with a management restructuring having taken place.
Prior to the Mexican Grand Prix, it was then announced that Red Bull would receive a $7 million fine and a 10-percent reduction in aerodynamic development, a “draconian” penalty according to Christian Horner.
Nevertheless, the side have had to sort out their management restructuring, something which is now complete.
It was announced by the side that Red Bull Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff would be leaving his role at the German football club to overlook Red Bull’s Formula 1 side, despite having refused to leave his role at Leipzig recently following interest from Chelsea FC.
“I’m under contract with Leipzig until 2026, I will fulfil my contract here with great pleasure,” he told Sky Sports Deutschland.
“We still have a lot of plans. Not only on the pitch. I feel comfortable here at Leipzig.”
Given that Leipzig are branded as a Red Bull-owned club, it’s more of a promotion for Mintzlaff than a change of company.
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With Mintzlaff’s move in place, the F1 side can get back to usual business for the remainder of the season and maintain a focus on their bid to become a power unit supplier in 2026.
“The future is set,” Horner explained.
“[Dietrich] has put in place a very strong foundation for the future. And with, in 2026, Red Bull becoming a power unit manufacturer, that was the missing piece of our jigsaw, and he had the vision to enable that to happen. And just as we’ve done with the chassis, we will take that same spirit, his spirit, into the future engine company.”