David Coulthard questioned the idea that Red Bull Racing is in a bad situation after the departure of several important team members. For the former Formula 1 driver, the category has changed to the point that no single person alone can determine a team’s performance.
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Christian Horner, Helmut Marko, Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley, Rob Marshall, and Gianpiero Lambiase are among the professionals who have recently left Red Bull. In Lambiase’s case, he is still on the team but has already announced his departure. Coulthard, however, highlighted that the team also made a major hiring of staff to structure its engine operation, aiming for the 2026 season.
“I spoke with someone from Red Bull a few weeks ago about this,” Coulthard said on the Up to Speed podcast. According to him, the number of people who arrived from Ferrari, Mercedes, and other teams was higher than the total number of professionals who left the organization.
The former driver specifically mentioned Red Bull Powertrains-Ford, which, according to him, started practically from scratch, built a factory, and hired hundreds of employees from other Formula 1 teams. For Coulthard, this move ends up being ignored by the narrative created around the departures of prominent figures.
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“It’s one of those situations where the narrative fit the scenario that things had gone off the rails. But this happens constantly. All teams are hiring and firing, putting people on paid leave, and doing things like that,” he added.
Coulthard acknowledged that names like Newey, Horner, and Marko played an important role in Red Bull’s success but assessed that the current complexity of the category has reduced individual influence: “The sport has now become so complex that one person cannot be the deciding factor,” he concluded.
The moment is also marked by the stay of Max Verstappen, who renewed his contract with Red Bull until the end of 2030. The Dutch driver also praised the work of the current team principal, Laurent Mekies, while Coulthard highlighted the good relationship between the two during the team’s rebuilding process.
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