Max Verstappen insists he is not concerned about Red Bull’s future performance despite the loss of two high-ranking personnel.
The departure of Red Bull’s star designer Adrian Newey was announced earlier this year. During the summer break, the team confirmed that sporting director Jonathan Wheatley will leave them to become team principal of Audi’s F1 effort.
Despite the loss of several top names from Red Bull’s leadership, Verstappen says he has no concerns about the departures affecting the performance of the reigning world champions and current championship leaders into future seasons.
“We just focus on the performance on track,” Verstappen said at today’s FIA press conference.
“Of course, some people have been leaving, some people have been joining, some get announced, some don’t. That, I think, is life in Formula 1 – especially when you have been very successful. It’s normal that other teams try to steal people away. It’s not new to Formula 1, anyway.
“So I’m not too worried about it. We just need to stay focused and make sure that we have the right people at the right place.”
Wheatley will depart Red Bull after working for the team throughout all of their championship-winning campaigns and race victories. Verstappen says he appreciated the contribution that the team’s outgoing sporting director had made to the Milton Keynes-based team over the years.
“I have a great relationship with Jonathan and it always will be like that anyway, even if he’s moving to a different team,” he said.
“But it’s a different opportunity for him and also a different role and sometimes it’s also a bit of a new challenge. So there are no hard feelings or whatever. I’m happy for him that he gets that opportunity.
“He will be missed within the team but as a team we also have to look at the future and move on from that. We still have to see how we’re going to fill in all the roles that Jonathan currently has.
“But I’m also happy for him. It goes both ways. And the team is also very thankful for what he has delivered for the team. So there are no hard feelings at all.”
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