Just a Red Bull copy and unfair to the other racing teams? This is how Racing Bulls team boss Peter Bayer defends himself against the accusations of the Formula 1 competition
What if Racing Bulls makes a big leap with Red Bull technology and is suddenly in the Formula 1 midfield? This is a scenario that gives McLaren boss Zak Brown, for example, a headache. Because he fears for the balance of power if one team benefits too much from another team
The accusation of too close cooperation between two constructors is nothing new. It is always raised when a cooperation is intensified and there is a chance that a team could become significantly faster than before. This is currently the case with Racing Bulls, the former AlphaTauri.
But Racing Bulls Managing Director Peter Bayer does not want to let this go without comment. In an interview with RacingNews365, he says: “Having success is the easiest way to make yourself unpopular. That’s one of the first things you learn in Formula 1.”
“As long as you’re in last place, people don’t even realize you’re there. But when you start knocking on their door, they’ll fight you with everything they’ve got. “
Fears of unfair action are unfounded, says Bayer
In this specific case, however, Bayer believes that the concerns of the other teams are unfounded, pointing to his own past at the FIA, where he worked as a Formula 1 managing director. He therefore knows exactly how closely the technology and any collaborations are monitored.
“And of course everything is monitored all the more closely when teams work closely together,” says Bayer. As is the case with Racing Bulls and Red Bull. But so far, the FIA has not raised any objections. On the contrary. “They said [our car] is a different concept [to Red Bull’s],” he explains. “We are therefore not worried. “
It remains a battle of David against Goliath
As he is keen to take a “tough but fair” approach with Racing Bulls in Formula 1. And despite all the concerns about a close collaboration with Red Bull, we must not forget where Racing Bulls comes from: namely from the basement of the standings
Bayer: “If you add up the points of the last four teams in the 2023 constructors’ championship, you end up with fewer points than the team in P6. This means that the bottom line in Formula 1 is about resources, but nowadays it’s also about efficiency. I therefore believe that the teams further back need a certain amount of support in order to remain competitive.”
Smaller teams would simply not be able to keep up with the larger teams on their own, neither financially nor in terms of sport, Bayer continued.
“The reality is: Not all ten teams make money from Formula 1, so we have to be careful not to overreact to the paranoia of certain people. “
