"Red Bull a drinks company"

[bot6]

The thing is, the discussion here has been totally taken out of proportion.

Red Bull is successful at the moment, just like Benetton was back in the day. There is no denying that. Actually, the parallels between the two are frightening: pretty decent young German driver, designer acclaimed by many as the best, a good technical team having found a "groove" in the current regulations... Remind you of anything?

Now Hamilton's comments are not meant to pretend that Red Bull is not a "real" F1 team or that they are not as good / will not be as good as McLaren and Ferrari. He's just pointing out that one day, just like Benetton did, Red Bull will end up selling the team and will retire from F1.
There will be one day when F1 just does not make sense anymore for Red Bull relative to their core business: energy drinks. If Red Bull, as a company, sees a better opportunity to publicize their brand, they will take it. And leave the current F1 team in the hands of a new owner.

For McLaren, Ferrari and Williams however, Formula One IS their core business. If they left F1, they would simply cease to exist. And Ferrari has built its brand on F1, and has competed in every single World Championship since its creation. So those teams are not going anywhere.

That does not mean they are better than Red Bull Racing. But it does mean their presence in F1 is more stable in the long term. And that is the point Hamilton is making. He has grown up with the McLaren legend, and is now a part of it. His whole life, he has been a McLaren fan. No one can say that about RBR because they did not exist 10 years ago, and the team will probably have changed owner and name 10 years from now. That is just what happens in F1, owners and sponsors come and go, and generally the teams stay.

As for Mercedes, to me they still have to prove they are there to stay, unlike Renault who come and go regularly in F1.

[segedunum]

The only bitter pill being swallowed is that 'established teams' are being beat by what they want to label purely as a 'drinks company'. Ferrari, and especially McLaren right now, are desperate for Red Bull to get bored and pull out as soon as possible because they're being displaced.

To be honest I think Hamilton's outburst was a carefully crafted McLaren press release where they wanted to get over how they felt but couldn't say it directly, so they got him to say it instead.

I know comparing them to Benetton is flavour of the month, but there really is no comparison. Red Bull is active at virtually every level of motorsport, from WRC to Formula 1 and are involved in junoar formulas leading into Formula 1. McLaren and Ferrari can't say the same despite supposedly being big motorsport brands. The Red Bull heads are also prominent and seen in a way that Benetton never was.

[ringo]

The only bitter pill being swallowed is that 'established teams' are being beat by what they want to label purely as a 'drinks company'. Ferrari, and especially McLaren right now, are desperate for Red Bull to get bored and pull out as soon as possible because they're being displaced.

To be honest I think Hamilton's outburst was a carefully crafted McLaren press release where they wanted to get over how they felt but couldn't say it directly, so they got him to say it instead.

I know comparing them to Benetton is flavour of the month, but there really is no comparison. Red Bull is active at virtually every level of motorsport, from WRC to Formula 1 and are involved in junoar formulas leading into Formula 1. McLaren and Ferrari can't say the same despite supposedly being big motorsport brands. The Red Bull heads are also prominent and seen in a way that Benetton never was.

That sounds more feasible than the other silly reasons such as disrespect and immaturity.
Horner was taking shots at whitmarsh. So mcalren simply are using their drivers to return the blows.

[Jimi_Hendrix_1967]

Horner was taking shots at Whitmarsh? When was that? And is Whitmarsh not man enough to take care of himself?

[PlatinumZealot]

No, he is not.

[Richard]

To be honest I think Hamilton's outburst was a carefully crafted McLaren press release where they wanted to get over how they felt but couldn't say it directly, so they got him to say it instead.

That sounds more feasible than the other silly reasons such as disrespect and immaturity.

Are you two for real?

A bit of pit lane banter "they're only a soft drink company" is getting blown out of proportion.

[Richard]

.....

Spot on.

Unfortunately some fevered F1 fans can't accept something so pragmatic. Every F1 incident is all part of a carefully crafted Machiavellian manoeuvre.

[mx_tifoso]

Take some time away from the computer to relax guys. This is hardly worth being talked about in here, and besides, the GP is two days away so recharge your batteries (and let us take a break too )