Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz continues his attack on Renault, once again threatening to leave the sport

With this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix taking place at his own circuit, the Austrian is ensuring that no opportunity to knock his teams' engine partner is missed.

With no realistic hope of victory on Sunday, nor even a podium finish, Red Bull has taken another massive hit after changing the engines on both cars, thereby ensuring its drivers incur heavy penalties.

Speaking to his company's Speed Week magazine, Mateschitz has ramped up the pressure not so much on Renault, which he clearly feels is a lost cause, but on the sport's powers-that-be.

"They take from us not only time and money, but also the will and motivation,” he lamented of Renault. "There is no driver and no chassis which is more able to compensate for the lack of horsepower. What else has to happen that we will lose our motivation completely?”

As a customer... "you get a motor that's good enough to take a few points from your immediate competitors" says the Austrian, "but it will never be good enough to beat the works team that delivered the engine".

"We're no good at playing the expensive cameo role," he says.

Having issued previous threats that he will walk away from the sport, a move which could see four cars disappear from the grid, Mateschitz insisted that the contract which supposedly binds his teams to remain in F1 until 2020 is of little relevance.

"You can’t force one to stay, when he wants to go out,” he warned.

Little by little, the four-time champions are shedding any dignity they had, the endless complaining alienating fans and F1 insiders alike.

As we said before, seemingly, Red Bull gives you whinge!

Check out our Friday gallery, here.

LATEST NEWS

more news >

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

Click to go to the main galleries section

READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by 4-Wheel Drifter, 19/06/2015 23:32

"Well, you can call it whinging, but the man who writes the checks and hires the best people he can and turns around a flailing, if not outright failing!, team and manages four championships in as many years, has more credibility to me than a racing journalist no matter how good a writer he is. The point is that Red Bull upset the 'powers that be' in F1 and they can hardly contain their glee at seeing him lumbered with a golf cart engine. In fact, he reminds me of Enzo in his straightforward speech. None of that Ron Dennis doublespeak "

Rating: Negative (-2) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by klmn, 19/06/2015 23:30

"So Redbully didn't want to change the agreements about the money distribution so that the small team could have a chance to win.
But they do want to change the engine rules agreements so they have themselves a chance to win.

Pathetic losers !!!!!!!!!!!!"

Rating: Positive (2) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by CL, 19/06/2015 20:10

"He's not whinging that he's not winning, just that he doesn't have a chance to improve to challenge at the front, the reasons are two-fold

1. Renault can't develop their engine fast enough
2. Even if they could, the rules are hampering getting changes applied."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

4. Posted by Skidmarks, 19/06/2015 17:08

"I agree that Herr Mateschitz has every right to "feel a bit p***ed off", however it is the nature of competition that no-one can always win. The whingeing demeans him and his teams."

Rating: Positive (4) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

5. Posted by Damo57, 19/06/2015 14:43

"To all the people saying that Mateschitz is whingeing, all I can say is, are you paying the Red Bull Racing & Toro Rosso bills or is he? If you are paying them, then you are fully entitled to have a crack at Herr M, however if he is paying them, then frankly you should all have some respect for the fact that it is his money he is pouring down the drain!
If you were putting £300 million a year or whatever crazy sum it is, like he does, to run 4 cars that have absolutely no possible chance of any form of a competitive race anywhere during the year, then I'd say that you had a right to feel a bit p***ed off. Out of all the teams, other than maybe Williams and Sauber, he's probably the only private individual who is putting his hand in his pocket for F1.
Now you may not like the guy, who cares, but fact is that he has more right than most to rave about the state of F1, which imho, is at it's least competitive period since 1966/67, and in the worst shape I have ever known it to be.If he pulls out that leaves 16 cars ( maybe 18 next year if Haas doesn't get realistic ), and of those 16 only 2 will remain as likely winners each time out....good or boring? Answers on a postcard please!"

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

6. Posted by Greg, 19/06/2015 13:53

"@nnails, could not agree more. Start the race do the lap, pit stop for tyre change and stop go, go back out and then retire.
Yes Red Bull are whinging, but the entire sport has become a major procession of most races. I watched Lemans, 24 hours flat out higher speeds. different classes, a lot of traffic, and much better racing. Moto GP is even more exciting these days, as well as more racing categories are taking the spectators away.

F1 has lost its pinnacle status I am afraid.

@kiwi2wheels, Penske's quote is so true. As well as your statement, and they will keep changing the rules till it is so complex it is not funny. Would; be better top go back to a more bare bones race care, forget the fuel saving, DRS, limited choice of tyres, Radio calls and just race. 2 hours flat out, do what you have to do to win.

"

Rating: Positive (2) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

7. Posted by kiwi2wheels, 19/06/2015 13:18

"Mateschitz has balls, something lacking in all the other teams that sit back, utter platitudes and take the money from the poison dwarf.

F1 has deteriorated to such an extent that wanting to be competitive, and complaining about it, because of being hamstrung because of asinine f**king rules is " not sporting. "

Roger Penske said " Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser. " How true."

Rating: Negative (-1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

8. Posted by Insane Reindeer, 19/06/2015 13:14

"I have lost count how many times he has threatened/hinted that they will quit. I was taught that if you threaten to take a course of action you must set a clear mark or time frame. If you just keep using someone else performance as the basis for issuing a threat without following through on your threat then everyone will, sooner rather than later, stop paying any attention to the threats. It has always seemed obvious to me that this team was not in the sport for the long haul anyway. Even when they were winning it never seemed like they were setting out to create another racing dynasty in the mold of Ferrari, Williams, McLaren or Sauber. I think they should just quit. I know a lot of hard working people will face an uncertain job future with this course of action but I believe that they will ultimately pull through. "

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

9. Posted by nnails, 19/06/2015 12:43

"silly rules are damaging f1. if i was the boss of red bull i would do this

take the grid penalty and time penalty. do a lap. retire the car and rub f1 nose in it saying we have no chance here as its power track and there are few safty cars so we decided to save engines to next race and it tactic we have to do because of the rules.

stand back and stir"

Mateschitz in new quit threat

LATEST NEWS

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

POST A COMMENT

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

Share this page