Red Bull staff structure developments; Wolff wants F1 rule change – F1 news round-up

Oliver Harden 04 Jan 2024 10:00 PM

The Red Bull team in the traditional photograph with the Monza trophies.

Red Bull celebrate Max Verstappen's record-breaking 10th straight win at the 2023 Italian Grand Prix.

It’s been another fast-paced day of F1 news with Red Bull and Mercedes leading the way – and PlanetF1.com has been at the heart of the action.

Today we’ve brought you the news of Helmut Marko extending his Red Bull contract and more from our interview with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

No time to waste, so let’s run through Thursday’s F1 news at the speed of light…

PlanetF1.com sources: Helmut Marko extends Red Bull contract

Long-serving Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has signed a new three-year contract to continue working with the F1 Constructors’ Champions, PlanetF1.com understands.

His long-term future with Red Bull had been considered uncertain following the death of founder Dietrich Mateschitz in October 2022.

However, PlanetF1.com understands from a source close to the situation that Marko will remain involved for a further three years having agreed a three year extension with parent company Red Bull GmbH.

Toto Wolff speaks to PlanetF1.com

In an interview with select media including PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher, Toto Wolff has urged a rethink of how incidents caused by force majeure are handled after an “unfair” penalty was given to Carlos Sainz in Las Vegas.

Having had his car demolished by the incident with a loose manhole cover Sainz’s weekend un Vegas went from bad to worse as he was given a grid penalty for needing a new energy store due to the damage incurred on his power unit.

With options unavailable to the stewards in the case of force majeure, Wolff believes what happened to Sainz was completely unfair.

Christian Horner responds to Red Bull deputy suggestion

Christian Horner says he has no interest in appointing a deputy team principal to share his workload at Red Bull, insisting it is his duty to attend every race.

With the F1 calendar growing ever larger, several of Horner’s peers – including Wolff – have elected to miss certain races over recent years to attend to other matters away from the racetrack.

Yet Horner has zero interest in reducing his workload, likening the notion of him missing a race to the great football manager Sir Alex Ferguson missing a match while in charge of Manchester United.

Max Verstappen reveals F1 dream team

Max Verstappen has outlined the two drivers he’d have on his team if he ended up in the position of a team boss.

While becoming an F1 team boss hasn’t been on Verstappen’s list, the reigning World Champion had a little bit of fun thinking about who he’d have driving for his team if he ended up suddenly having to carry out Christian Horner’s duties…

All we can say is Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are going to be disappointed…