Red Bull Reveals Cost Cap Concerns Amid Key Team Member Departures

Saajan Jogia | Aug 21, 2024

Christian Horner and Adrian Newey / Red Bull Content Pool

Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko has revealed that with huge salaries being offered by rival teams in an era limited by the cost cap, Red Bull is often left with its hands tied from shelling out more money. Now though, Marko intends to "fight for every employee" and retain talent in the team.

The Milton Keynes outfit faces constraints on both top positions and financial resources. Although the salaries of their three highest-paid individuals are exempt from the cost cap, all other staff salaries must be included. As a result, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez's crew is tightly bound by the budget cap, meaning they must manage their spending very carefully.

The constraints often cause the top team to not only lose key talent but also transfer ideas and information to rival teams waiting to poach VIPs. The most recent example was the exit announcement of sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, who will take over the role of team principal halfway through 2025 at Sauber, a team that is being managed by Audi for its transition into the Audi works team by 2026.

The sporting director, who has been with Red Bull since 2006, has seen little chance for promotion, especially with Christian Horner seemingly set to remain in the team principal role for the foreseeable future. This situation led him to consider an enticing offer from newcomer Audi, which, according to Marko, Red Bull "could not have matched." Red Bull will now find an internal solution and distribute Wheatley's job across several team members.

Similarly, Red Bull saw the departure of head of aerodynamics Dan Fallows to Aston Martin for the 2023 season, who helped create a car that could very much challenge the RB19.

McLaren also gained a significant advantage with ex-Red Bull Rob Marshall's expertise in chassis development, who is now a chief designer.

Amid constraints of the cost cap, Red Bull fears that Newey and Wheatley could attract other important team members from Red Bull into the teams they would eventually go on to join. Marko aims to tackle this aggressively, as he told Auto Motor und Sport:

"We are broadly and well positioned, and we will fight for every employee."

However, with Red Bull losing ground as the season progresses, it remains to be seen what measures Red Bull puts in place to retain its staff.