(Motorsport-Total.com) – The discussions about two teams under the same owner in Formula 1 – mostly fueled by the two Red Bull racing teams – were recently reignited by the apparent interest of Mercedes and Toto Wolff in shares of the Alpine team.
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Although this interest never resulted in a concrete deal, it was precisely this that prompted McLaren CEO Zak Brown to write a letter to FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. In it, he expressed his concerns about such structures, as they allow room for unsporting collaboration.
The concerns relate to shorter suspension periods for personnel moving between teams of the same owner, potential transfer of intellectual property – or direct assistance on the race track.
Back to 2024
Brown referred to Daniel Ricciardo’s fastest lap at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix. The Australian, who drove for Red Bull’s sister team, came into the pits shortly before the end for no apparent reason and took the point for the fastest lap away from Lando Norris, who was chasing Max Verstappen in the championship. Earlier in the year, at the Miami Grand Prix, Racing Bulls instructed their driver Liam Lawson to let Verstappen pass, which also sparked discussions.
The topic of Red Bull owning two teams seems to come and go in waves. After the Barcelona Grand Prix, it was brought up again to Laurent Mekies – but without any obvious reason, as the race itself gave no cause for speculation.
“Look, we support eleven teams that race independently on the track,” he replied. “There are extremely precise and detailed regulations about personnel transfers and minimum suspension periods between teams. We not only comply with FIA rules but even impose longer periods on ourselves to ensure that we don’t get into these kinds of discussions in the first place.”
The counterarguments
He then invited the media to “take a look” at how the Red Bull and Racing Bulls cars have battled each other on the track this year to dispel the suspicions.
“There have been very, very many examples since the beginning of the year,” he smiled, “because unfortunately our car was not very competitive at the start of the season.”
Arvid Lindblad started his Formula 1 career with a quite impressive first lap in Australia, where despite starting ninth, he briefly moved up to third place. This advance included a strong outside maneuver in the fast turns 11 and 12 against Isack Hadjar.
Battles between the teams
Lindblad then firmly closed the door when braking for turn 13 as the Frenchman tried to retaliate. Hadjar not only failed to get past but the Bulls each lost a position as Lewis Hamilton took the opportunity to overtake both.
Hadjar then passed Lindblad on the start-finish straight – only for Lindblad to immediately regain the position on the back straight. The two were just about to provide one of the first examples of what would later be called yo-yo racing. The Frenchman eventually prevailed – but Lindblad showed hardly any signs of willingness to cooperate.
The rookie was then caught by Verstappen, who worked his way forward again after a poor start. The Dutchman spent several laps behind the Anglo-Swede before a virtual safety car phase (VSC) was triggered by Hadjar’s retirement.
Verstappen not the direct opponent
Both drivers came into the pits, with Racing Bulls missing the opportunity to hold Lindblad back with a slow stop. Lindblad still came out of the pits ahead of the Dutchman – but was then informed by the team that his race was “against Bearman,” who was behind Verstappen.
“Don’t forget your tires because of Max,” Lindblad’s engineer Pierre Hamelin radioed before the restart. This is hardly suspicious, as Verstappen had a fresh set of mediums compared to Lindblad’s hard tires, which had to be conserved until the finish.
Nevertheless, he blocked Verstappen’s first attempt after the restart but was powerless to defend on the back straight – and saw the Red Bull disappear on the horizon.
It got really close at times
Hadjar’s contact in the first lap with Kimi Antonelli in the Shanghai sprint left him with a slightly damaged car, dropping him to ninth place just ahead of Lawson. The Racing Bulls driver not only managed to stay close behind but overtook his former teammate on lap five by forcing the Frenchman to defend in the hairpin and catching him at the corner exit. Lawson finished seventh while Hadjar fell further back.
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In the main race, it was Lindblad’s turn to fight against the sister car. Another start gave Verstappen a difficult getaway again, causing the Dutchman to lose several positions. He regained some quite quickly before getting stuck behind the rookie.
He was about to pass when Lindblad missed the braking point in the hairpin and locked a brake disc. The youngster still defended – pushing Verstappen onto the outside line again when braking for turn 1.
Only millimeters apart
The four-time champion tried to delay the braking point as much as possible, took the lead, but lost the rear due to too much oversteer entering the fast right corner and slid wide – allowing the Racing Bulls driver to regain the position.
Verstappen stayed behind Lindblad until his pit stop at the end of lap eight, which put him behind the other Racing Bulls car – this time Lawson’s.
Verstappen needed several laps to get past. After losing the position, Lawson at least made life a bit harder by running side by side in turn 7 – both cars separated by only millimeters.
Mekies has many arguments
Later in the race, Hadjar overtook Lindblad, but as in Australia, the Red Bull driver had to work hard for it. The Racing Bulls driver pushed his colleague almost onto the grass in the braking zone of the hairpin.
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The Red Bull driver had barely a car’s width of space to complete the maneuver. Afterwards, he tried to chase Lawson for almost 20 laps, but the New Zealander was simply faster and didn’t even let Hadjar think about an attack.
If Mekies ever had to gather evidence to demonstrate how uncooperative the drivers of the second Red Bull team can be on the track, the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix would be the thickest file in his defender’s folder.
Sharp words on the radio
Four cars owned by Red Bull raced extremely close together for about a dozen laps in Suzuka, with Lindblad briefly leading the group. While Verstappen quickly found a way past the Racing Bulls as expected, Hadjar had to work hard again to overtake the driver who inherited his cockpit.
The first serious attempt came on lap eleven when the duo fought for tenth place. This time, Lindblad didn’t even leave a car’s width for Hadjar in the braking zone before the chicane – and then changed lines several times to fend off the sister car for the entire next lap.
“What the hell is he doing?” complained Hadjar on the radio. “He’s moving like a …” Two laps later, Lindblad defended even more aggressively at the same spot, pushing Hadjar almost onto the grass.
That doesn’t sound like cooperation
“Come on man, you can’t do that,” shouted Hadjar on the radio, to which his engineer responded with a determined “We’re reporting him.” However, he did not add whether the report was sent to the FIA race stewards or to Red Bull headquarters. Shortly after, Lindblad received the black-and-white warning flag from race control. Hadjar finally got past thanks to a strategic decision.
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“Pit differently than Lindblad,” he was told at the end of lap 18. When Lindblad turned into the pit lane, Hadjar used the clear track to build a sufficient gap so that after his own pit stop a lap later, he rejoined the track ahead of the Racing Bulls car.
“What happened to that idiot?” he asked his engineer sarcastically as he left the pit lane ahead of Lindblad.
Miami the only clue?
The moment that sparked some discussions about the interplay of the Red Bull teams during races happened in Miami.
Verstappen lost positions again in the first lap – this time due to a spin exiting turn 1 – and found himself directly behind Lawson. Since the Dutchman never really waits for a “better opportunity,” he tried to dive inside entering turn 11.
The New Zealander, naturally trying not to give Verstappen any space, opened the door shortly before the corner to avoid compromising his own line too much – only to see Verstappen lift off the brakes.
A team mistake?
Verstappen was never ahead at the apex but had too much speed, causing both to go off track. Lawson went far through the runoff area and continued ahead, assuming the matter was settled since Max had also left the track. But moments later, the team call followed.
“Liam, we have to give Max the position back,” his engineer told him. “Do it as soon as possible.” “He hit me on the side,” protested Lawson. “I don’t understand.” But just one lap later, he gave way at the same turn 11 to let Verstappen pass.
Whether it was a real team mistake that didn’t analyze the incident properly and just wanted to avoid a penalty, or an attempt to make life easier for Verstappen, perhaps leaves room for speculation. Lawson himself was firmly convinced that there was nothing to the matter that would warrant a big story.
Red Bull has now escaped
“We made a mistake,” he told the media when later asked about the Miami episode. “We shouldn’t have done that – simply because the maneuver was actually Max’s mistake. I think the way the team evaluated it, we just didn’t look at it properly. But you have so little time to make a decision that you can probably misjudge it. If we faced that decision again, we wouldn’t do it that way anymore.”
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As Red Bull gradually improved its car, there were no more duels with Racing Bulls in Monaco, Canada, and Barcelona – except for a routine overtaking maneuver by Hadjar on Lindblad in Spain. In this case, the rookie was just one of many drivers who, after a poor start, did not have the pace to resist the charging Red Bull.
Anyone who loves a good conspiracy theory will always find a way to refer to the ownership structure when Red Bull and Racing Bulls drivers fight each other on the track. But it is hard to contradict Mekies that the start of this season alone has provided very little substance for such claims – even if some may still refer to the incident in Miami or Ricciardo’s fastest lap in Singapore 2024.
Personnel in focus
The bigger issue is, of course, personnel movements – Mekies himself switched back and forth between Racing Bulls and Red Bull without suspension – and the potential transfer of knowledge. This topic will probably never completely disappear.
But for the most visible part – the duels on the track – it would indeed be “silly” for Red Bull to play team games. The Racing Bulls drivers certainly do not seem eager to immediately make way as soon as they see the “big brother” in the rearview mirror.
The only real acid test would probably come in a race towards the end of the season – when a world championship is at stake. But one thing is certain: in such a scenario, the competition would watch very closely.
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