Eddie Jordan fires firm warning to Red Bull after recent unrest rumours

Former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan urged Red Bull to keep the “status quo” intact amidst rumours of team management unrest, branding Christian Horner and Adrian Newey the “most formidable partnership” in racing history.

The key pillars in the Red Bull machine seem to have been working in harmony for much of their tenures, senior advisor and driver programme boss Helmut Marko, plus team principal Christian Horner having been there since the very start of Red Bull Racing, while design legend Adrian Newey joined the following year in 2006.

And with Red Bull having now re-established dominance over the F1 grid, claiming back-to-back Drivers’ and Constructors’ title doubles, there seems to be very little reason for unrest in the team, though speculation has suggested otherwise.

David Coulthard does not see clashes at Red Bull

Both Horner and Marko recently moved to quash reports of a power struggle going on between them, the claim made that Horner was even part of a coup looking to oust Marko from the team.

Former Red Bull driver Coulthard though, like much of the paddock, believes Horner and Marko continue to co-exist very well, likening it to the past Mercedes pairing of the late great Niki Lauda, who served as non-executive chairman alongside part-owner and team principal Toto Wolff.

“What has been interesting, there is a little bit of unrest within the Red Bull team,” said Coulthard on the Formula for Success podcast.

“I don’t know if that was just tabloid media doing their thing, whether it was other teams just trying to sort of create little chinks in their armour, and by that referencing there were rumours of Dr. Marko and Christian Horner are not seeing eye to eye.

“How I perceive it from the outside, and obviously I’ve been very much on the inside in that team many, many years back, but as I perceive it from the outside, they have two very separate roles. In the same way that I saw Niki [Lauda] and Toto [Wolff] had their two separate roles.

“Nikki was sort of the older statesman, had been there done that and could be quite blunt in his appraisal of events and Toto, more, let’s say, diplomatic and modern business-like and I think that’s kind of the way it is at Red Bull Racing as well.”

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Eddie Jordan warns Red Bull to stick with their “status quo”

Red Bull has won an incredible 19 of the 20 grands prix held so far in F1 2023, making the RB19 arguably the greatest challenger in Formula 1 history.

Designed under Newey’s watch, Jordan believes motor racing has never seen a better partnership than Horner and Newey, a tandem which he warns Red Bull would be very wise not to disturb.

“Helmut Marko, he was so close to [late Red Bull Racing founder Dietrich] Mateschitz that he is, I suppose in touch with the board and living in Salzburg and so he speaks to them all the time, probably it’s a bit difficult for Christian to get fully on touch,” said Jordan.

“And when you see what Christian has achieved for that team over a long number of years, how can it be possible that his position is undermined? I’m not sure that is going to happen, and I think that he will grow.

“But the great thing about Christian is that he has got in his side, he’s got Adrian Newey and while those two are together, I think they are the most formidable partnership of any time at motor racing and I think one feeds off the other.

“They might not always see eye to eye, I’m sure like any good partnership, there’s obviously ups and downs. But, I would warn Red Bull, leave the status quo as it is because it’s given us such unbelievable returns for their investment. Why would you change that now?”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has claimed a record 17 of their 19 wins in F1 2023 on his way to a third World Championship title in as many seasons.

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