F1 News
Berger on Red Bull: 'This is often the beginning of the end'
- Ludo van Denderen
Gerhard Berger has a history with Red Bull Racing. As the first F1 driver, the Austrian was sponsored by the energy drink manufacturer and later co-owned Toro Rosso. It was the time when Dietrich Mateschitz was in charge. Far too soon, the Austrian businessman passed away and since then Berger has seen a Red Bull Racing in chaos.
Full of amazement, Berger had watched last season as Red Bull Racing as the dominant force in Formula 1 slowly but surely slipped away. The conflict between Christian Horner and Helmut Marko - with Max Verstappen at the Austrian's side - was to the issue, according to the former F1 driver.
"It is often the beginning of the end when such topics dominate," Berger said in conversation with Auto, Motor und Sport. "Formula 1 is so complex and so competitive that you can only be successful if everyone in the team puts their shoulders to the wheel, if everyone agrees and communicates well with each other."
The Austrian did not see that happening. Suddenly, Red Bull was no longer Red Bull. "The Red Bull brand always exudes happiness and a cool image. Suddenly everything changed. Completely atypical for the team, there were no more clear statements."
Misunderstanding over situation with Perez at Red Bull
According to Berger, the situation with Sergio Perez was typical of the situation within the team. "You could see that things were no longer working well. Nobody in this business understood that he was given another contract then. There could have been reasons like marketing or the contract situation."
"But when things did not improve after that, they gave him three more races and then two more, and refused to take a decision. I couldn't see a clear line there. In Mateschitz's time, Red Bull was always known for its clarity," Berger concludes.
This article was written in collaboration with Norberto Mujica.
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