From a Sant'Agata bull to an entirely different type of Bull.
I'm sure there was more than one reason why Red Bull decided to can Jaime Aguersauri from Scuderia Toro Rosso and replace him, along with Sebastian Buemi, with Daniel Ricciardo and Jean Eric Vergne but some are saying this episode was the final straw.
Red Bull is brilliant at marketing itself as the alternative, care free and rebellious upstart but reality may not exactly reflect the sunny image. At some point during free practice for the Korean GP, Jaime Alguersauri held up top Bull Sebastian Vettel for a lap or so. Mind you, this was not during the race or even qualifying, it was practice. At that point Vettel had already sealed his drivers championship but Red Bull had yet to mathematically win the constructor's trophy.
Vettel shows his displeasure on the track but that's nothing compared to the dressing down Alguersauri receives at the hands of Red Bull general Helmut Marko. Marko ends the tirade with a dry "we don't accept this" and the faces of others in the garage left little doubt as to what happens if you get in Vettel, Marko or Red Bull's way.
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everytime i see that helmut marko i dislike him even more
ReplyDeleteThe more I see, hear, and read about Red Bull the more I hate what they are, and how they operate. The swill is nasty and the behavior is worse. I feel that their attitude and their actions are detrimental to the sport and to the business of Formula One.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, retardedly pissed of austrians, don't you love us...
ReplyDeleteIt's petty stuff like this that makes me rage in Formula 1 nowadays "HE SO MEAN HE HELD ME UP!"
Oh for pete's sake...
I like Red Bull for pushing sports and such, but stuff like that is absolutely stupid.
Well, while I'm not sure RB is likable, or what they project necessarily, they are a ruthless and very efficient marketing machine. That's not necessarily unlike McLaren or Ferrari in the end. I don't think it could have happened for the, otherwise.
ReplyDelete*le sigh
ReplyDeleteWhen Mr. Speed was unceremoniously dumped, I was not exactly bothered by it. Thing is, that was in the beginning of the RBR/STR race opera the rest of us had no idea was coming.
Here we are, a few years later, and the shit-canning of the only recent American in F1 turns out to be one of the early indicators of what was to come. Someone is going to say something like 'it has always been this way' or perhaps a justification of end over means (a la Ferrari). In a way it's going to alter the landscape of driver promotion - even though they cultivate a lot of young talent it all comes to such a fine point that eventually all teams will have to get a bit more brutal when it comes to driver selection. Not to say it isn't spectacularly hard to get a seat now but the game always changes and not always for the better.
The best antidote would be another big-money team jumping into the mix. If only someone would buy up ANY of the existing IP out there (BMW, Honda, Toyota all have something) with the same kind of zeal as RBR it could be the next golden age of ridiculous machines and advancements. A true duel of no-limits win-at-any-cost marketing machines. *stiffy
I'd get up at 2am any night of the week to watch that, yes I would ;D
Mr. Marko is one of the biggest morons in motorsport.
ReplyDeleteLook at the Red Bull Junior program, they change outfit every one or two years, sometimes just because teams run out of money to give Red Bull drivers what they need, other times because team managers refuse to put in action the dirty team orders that Mr. Marko asks (it happened everywhere, from F3000 to WSR).
Alguersuari was a little over the line with that blocking moves in Free Practice, but I see no reasons for such a reaction. From what I know about the man in charge, this could really be the reason why Jaime was sacked.
And it's a pity, even if Vergne and Ricciardo are two good talents...
Bernie should revoke Helmut Marko's pit pass. The guy's a jerk. We all know Vettel is good. He doesn;t need help such as this.
ReplyDeletemarko's treatment of Webber after last year's Turkish GP shows what a jerk he is.