F1 News: Red Bull to ‘fight’ further F1 staff poaching – Marko

(GMM) Red Bull’s Dr. Helmut Marko says the team will “fight” against any further efforts from Formula 1 rivals to poach staff because the rivals are not good enough to do it on their own, so they steal.

Since Max Verstappen began to dominate, the energy drink company’s top F1 team has been leaking top employees – including Dan Fallows, Rob Marshall, Lee Stevenson, Adrian Newey, and Audi’s future new team boss, Jonathan Wheatley.

Red Bull F1 consultant Dr Helmut Marko suggested the team was fairly powerless to retain Wheatley, as his new and sizeable Audi salary is protected under the budget cap rules.

“We wouldn’t have been able to keep up with them,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.

And now there are fears that given Newey’s influence, and also Wheatley’s long-term contacts at Red Bull, more departures may soon be forthcoming.

“We are broadly and well positioned as a team, but we will fight for every employee,” Marko insisted.

Some think Red Bull’s internal turmoil in 2024, including the Christian Horner scandal, was not only Newey’s but also Wheatley’s trigger to leave.

“I don’t believe it is the turmoil that made him leave,” 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve told Prime Casino. “It’s just a step-up in a career. It’s (like) James Vowles leaving Mercedes for Williams.

“It (the turmoil) might have opened the door, but ultimately, it is a step-up in career,” the Canadian added.

Villeneuve, however, also tips Red Bull to weather the storm.

“It won’t help them,” he said, “but it is a great team. Mercedes went to the bottom of their wave and now they’re starting to climb the wave again. Red Bull will do the same.

The good news for Red Bull is that the well-connected Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf is now reporting that Toto Wolff has finally given up on trying to poach Verstappen. Kimi Antonelli is expected to be announced as Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 successor next weekend at Monza.

As for Villeneuve, he thinks Red Bull could also survive without triple world champion Verstappen.

“There was Red Bull before Max and they were winning a lot so Max is not the answer to everything,” he said. “He is a huge part of the puzzle. Not an easy piece to replace.”

Villeneuve will also be keeping his eye on the FIA’s new clampdown, as of this weekend at Zandvoort, against asymmetrical braking systems – which some believe is aimed primarily at Red Bull.

“There’s been some regulation changes about the bias braking – left to right – the steered braking, so we’ll have to see who it affects,” he said. “It will be interesting to see which team it affects.”