Is Red Bull starting to lose the X-factor that made it great?

The Red Bull-Christian Horner stand-off has come as a surprise to quite a lot of people. It's not often that you see a team coming out of the most dominant season in F1's history and find itself embroiled in a controversy that does reek of some level of political turmoil.

Early in the week, it became clear that Red Bull had launched an internal investigation into the racing team's head Christian Horner. The reason behind it is not clear with vague-sounding words like 'cross-border'/'inappropriate' behavior used, which could mean far too many things.

The speculation around Christian Horner, however, has been intense. It's almost surprising to see how the narrative appears to be Horner vs the entire top management at Red Bull. By the looks of it, the fate of the famed team principal - one who would already go down as one of the greatest - hangs in the balance, and could go either way.

This does however bring us back to the point where we talk about what made Red Bull special in all these years. One reason why this team has continued to be a force in the sport against all odds. That is because the team unlike a Ferrari or even an Alpine is not run from the boardroom.

One of the best things about the team, a phrase often used by Christian Horner is that the team 'is an outlaw and does things differently. It still plays the music loud and still works hard and parties harder.'

This agile nature was what made Red Bull what it is right now, a team that put together the most dominant season in the history of the sport. Since the team's founder Dietrich Mateschitz died and Oliver Mintzlaff took over, there were a few changes that one would have expected. The fact that the first visible change would be a complete alteration of the team's DNA is something that not many would have had on their bucket list.

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The Christian Horner-Red Bull saga reeks of politics

The first thing that jumps out when it comes to the entire Christian Horner saga is that it would be a miracle if he survived this onslaught. By the looks of it, while the conversation of inappropriate behavior is certainly distressing, what's been a complete surprise is how the German media has run rampant about the Brit with theories and reports based entirely on speculation.

During all of this, there hasn't been an arm around the shoulder of Horner and if there has been one it's not been visible to the public and certainly not from the team. The entire situation reeks of politics within the team that will not only impact Christian Horner but also impact Red Bull's day-to-day work.

This is such a far cry from the no-frills Red Bull of the past which didn't spend too much time tying itself down in things that are just counterproductive for the team.

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The V-Ca-RB rebrand and car launch

The second scenario that might just have slipped under the radar was what happened with the V-Ca-RB launch. Arguably it's hard to call it a launch if there's no launch whatsoever and not even a stream. The rebrand is primarily done to bring in more sponsors and sell space on the car more efficiently.

What this has led to is a complete quelling of the emotion that the squad at Faenza evoked. The team was a group of racers who worked hard and tried to get the best result with what they had. Torro Rosso and AlphaTauri under Franz Tost were a personification of that.

That's not the case anymore as a part of the unit has already moved to Milton Keynes and the future of the other half is still in the air. At the same time, the kind of criticism that the team faced for its name was brutal and unfortunately justified as well.

The essence of the Red Bull brand and what made it stand out in a grid full of corporate outfits was the ability to be racers. Be it the former Torro Rosso or AlphaTauri outfit or the senior team. These were the outlaws who did things their own way. The latest launch for V-Ca-RB reflected anything but that.

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Conclusion

If Christian Horner of all people is the victim of a political battle, then that would surely impact Red Bull racing. It would be naive to think that the impact will not be there, especially since Horner is the man who has led the team from day 1 and built it to where it is right now.

2024 will be the 20th year of Red Bull racing in F1 and it is a team that has been managed away from corporate control. If Horner leaving is the sign of the end of that era, could that mark the end of the team's success?

There are some pointed questions that the brand and the team at Milton Keynes might need to answer if the X-factor that made the team successful is slowly extricated from the DNA of the squad.