What Happened to the 2023 Red Bull F1 Team?
Last updated: 15/05/2026
Key Takeaways
- A Drastic Fall: After winning the Constructors’ Title in 2023, internal friction caused Red Bull to slump to 3rd place in both 2024 and 2025.
- Management Exodus: Long-serving Team Principal Christian Horner and senior advisor Dr. Helmut Marko both departed by the end of 2025.
- The Great Brain Drain: Other top F1 teams, like McLaren and Aston Martin, are actively poaching Red Bull employees.
In the long history of Formula 1, few machines have ever reached the level of absolute, suffocating perfection achieved by the 2023 Red Bull F1 Team. The RB19 wasn’t just a car; it was a silver-bullet solution to the ground-effect era, a masterpiece of fluid dynamics that rewrote the record books.
The statistics from that year still look like typos. 21 wins out of 22 races. A win rate of 95.4%. Max Verstappen single-handedly outscored every other team on the grid with a staggering 575 points. It was the peak of a mountain that many thought Red Bull Racing would inhabit for a decade.
But F1 is a game of human capital. Beneath the carbon fiber and the Honda power unit sat a brain trust of unparalleled brilliance. Fast forward to today, and that empire has fractured. From winning the Drivers and Constructors titles in 2023 to slumping to 3rd place in 2024 and 2025, the story of Red Bull’s decline is a cautionary tale of internal power struggles and a relentless “brain drain” to rivals like McLaren and Aston Martin.
The Drivers: A Tale of Two Paths
The driver pairing of the Red Bull F1 Team has always been one sided where one driver seems to be a lot more successful than the other. Verstappen has always had a multitude of teammates, but the partnership with Sergio Perez seemed to work the best.
Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen remains the heartbeat of Milton Keynes, but the pulse is weakening. Despite his historic 2023 campaign, the four-time champion has grown increasingly vocal about the team’s technical regression. While he is still under contract, the paddock is filled with rumors linking him to other top F1 teams or an early retirement to focus on his GT3 racing ventures.
Sergio “Checo” Perez
The “Mexican Minister of Defence” played his part in 2023, finishing as runner-up with 285 points. However, the drop-off in 2024 was steep. After a series of disappointing results that cost Red Bull the Constructors’ Title, Sergio Perez left Red Bull via a mutual agreement at the end of 2024. He has since found a new home driving for the brand new Cadillac F1 Team, leaving Red Bull struggling to find a second driver capable of supporting Verstappen.
Executive Management: The Power Struggle
In 2023, the management structure of Red Bull was considered the golden standard. By 2025, that structure had completely collapsed under the weight of internal friction.
- Christian Horner: The long standing Team Principal was the architect of Red Bull’s success. However, after a rough period of internal power struggles that became very public, Horner was let go in 2025. His exit marked the end of an era.
- Dr. Helmut Marko: The fearsome head of the driver development program and senior advisor followed shortly after. At the end of 2025, Marko officially retired, leaving the “Red Bull Junior Team” without its most influential and controversial leader.
The Technical Exodus: Losing the Design DNA
The 2023 Red Bull F1 Team was defined by its aerodynamic superiority. When you lose the people who understand the air, you lose the race. The technical department has faced the most significant poaching efforts from the grid.
Adrian Newey & Rob Marshall
The most successful designer in F1 history, Adrian Newey, was the man behind the RB19. In a move that sent shockwaves through the sport, Newey departed for Aston Martin in 2025. His absence left a void in the “dark arts” of floor-sealing aerodynamics that Red Bull has yet to fill. Before Newey’s departure, Rob Marshall (Chief Engineering Officer) left for McLaren in early 2024, a move many analysts point to as the catalyst for McLaren’s sudden surge.
Pierre Waché (Technical Director) and Enrico Balbo (Head of Aerodynamics) remain with the team. They are now the “last men standing,” tasked with trying to reverse a technical slide while working within a fractured corporate culture.
Strategy and Engineering: The Silent Drain
It’s not just the big names. The “engine room” of the 2023 Red Bull F1 Team has been raided by rivals looking for a shortcut to the podium.
| Key Personnel | 2023 Role | Current Status (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Wheatley | Sporting Director | Left in 2024 (Now Free Agent) |
| Gianpiero Lambiase | Head of Race Engineering | Joining McLaren in 2028 |
| Will Courtenay | Head of Race Strategy | Joined McLaren as Sporting Dir. |
| Hannah Schmitz | Principal Strategy Engineer | Head of Race Strategy at Red Bull |
| Tom Hart | Performance Engineer | Senior Role at Williams |
| David Mart | Engine Engineer | Joined Audi (2026) |
| Michael Manning | Control Engineer | Switched roles internally |
| Lee Stevenson | Chief Mechanic | Joined Audi (2024) |
| Craig Skinner | Chief Designer | Left Feb 2026 |
Insider Context Snippet: Hannah Schmitz remains a beacon of hope for the Milton Keynes squad. However, the loss of her “co-architect” Will Courtenay has noticeably impacted the team’s ability to execute the high-pressure, split-second strategic calls they were famous for in 2023.
Why the Collapse? Cultural Shift and Poaching
Why did so many people leave the most dominant team in history? The answer lies in a “perfect storm” of factors. Firstly, career progression at Red Bull was blocked; with the top roles occupied by legends for nearly two decades, junior and mid-level talent felt they had to leave to move up the ladder.
Secondly, the internal power struggle created a massive cultural shift. The “racer-first” mentality was replaced by corporate infighting. Rivals like McLaren, Aston Martin and Audi sensed this vulnerability, making a concerted effort to poach the geniuses behind the RB19 with massive salaries and fresh, exciting projects.
In the ultra-competitive world of F1, once the “aura of invincibility” is gone, the talent follows the performance. Red Bull went from being the hunter to the hunted, and the 2023 squad has been heavily picked over by teams hungry for their secrets.
Conclusion: The Legacy of the RB19
The 2023 Red Bull F1 Team will go down as perhaps the greatest single-season entity in motorsport history. However, its legacy is now one of fragmentation. As we look at the 2026 grid, the DNA of that 2023 team is spread across the paddock, fueling the rise of McLaren and the ambitions of Audi and Aston Martin.
Red Bull Racing is currently in a complex rebuilding phase. Without Newey, Horner, or Wheatley, the mountain back to the top looks steeper than ever. Whether Laurent Mekies can lead a new generation to glory remains the biggest question in the paddock today.
FAQ
Who was the designer of the 2023 Red Bull car?
Adrian Newey was the Chief Technical Officer and lead designer of the incredibly dominant RB19. He departed the team in 2025 to join Aston Martin.
Why did Red Bull fire Christian Horner?
Christian Horner was let go in 2025 following a period of intense, highly-publicized internal power struggles and a shifting corporate culture within the broader Red Bull organization.
Is Max Verstappen leaving Red Bull?
As of 2026, Max Verstappen remains under contract with Red Bull until 2028. However, he has been heavily linked with a move to McLaren or a transition into GT3 racing due to the team’s recent decline in performance.
Where is Sergio Perez now?
After a difficult 2024 campaign, Sergio Perez left Red Bull via a mutual agreement at the end of the season. He subsequently joined the Cadillac F1 project.
