Racing Bulls scoff at rival ‘hype’ with no ‘magic’ found in customer parts

Laurent Mekies says Racing Bulls’ results prove there’s no “magic” in sharing Red Bull parts despite the early 2024 hype.

Red Bull have owned two teams since 2006 when the Austrian energy drink brand bought Minardi to run as a junior team where they could blood future Red Bull stars.

Racing Bulls: It just never happened…

But with the focus of late also turning to the junior team’s results, Red Bull made the call to have closer collaboration between the two teams which began last year.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown branded the cooperation unfair.

“This A/B team and co-ownership, which is a whole other level of A/B team, is of big concern to us and the health of the sport and the fairness of the sport,” he said.

“The thing I would like to see us as a sport focus on, and where we sit on the regulation side, is the A/B team co-ownership.

“I believe it’s a serious issue for the fairness of the sport, for the fans. That’s why it’s pretty much not allowed in any other form of major sport.”

But despite the collaboration and VCARB, as Racing Bulls was called in the F1 2024 season, bolting on Red Bull’s permitted transferable components including the RB’s suspension and gearbox, Racing Bulls’ results were nowhere near Red Bull’s.

While Red Bull won the Drivers’ Championship with Max Verstappen and finished third in the Constructors’ Championship with 589 points, the junior team was only eighth with 46 points.

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Racing Bulls team boss Mekies says that answered the “hype” that had been led by McLaren.

“There was a level of hype at the beginning of last year where, I guess people felt there could be some magic in the fact that somebody takes a gearbox and suspension,” Mekies told Motorsport.com.

“But it’s not a new regulation. It’s been there for 15 years, and you have never seen guys that will be taking these items from somebody else, suddenly fighting for the championship, or fighting for the top three or the top four, it just never happened.

“So, it is what it is. Lobbying is part of Formula 1, but I think the reality of the grid is that probably more than ever. You had the top four teams and the rest of the world.

“And I think as a sport, the shareable components are very much there for that, to avoid that you have a division one and division two and that we can race with 20 cars in a competitive, tight field. And I think from that standpoint, nothing has changed.

“Do you expect that 2026 regulations will produce something else? No, if anything, the grid may be more spread out at the beginning of ’26 because that’s what new regulations do. So anything you have that can avoid that spread to be too big is good.”

Mekies’ comments come in the wake of Racing Bulls’ CEO Peter Bayer telling PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher that he isn’t concerned about ‘B-team’ criticism.

“Honestly, they don’t irritate me because, having spent enough time at the FIA, I know how other teams collaborate,” he said, referring to his time as the FIA’s secretary general and F1 executive director.

“I said the other day, I think I can say it again – I know for certain that Ferrari and Haas work closer than Red Bull Racing and us. I understand that it’s a cutthroat competition. Everybody’s trying to throw stones into the path of the other one.

“But, if you just look, take a step back and listen to our drivers and the engineers – listen to the feedback. You will hear that our car, it’s a different car. It’s simply not a copy. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be where we are in the first place.”