History of Red Bull F1 team

Red Bull’s origins date back to the Stewart Grand Prix team that debuted in 1997 to relatively little success. Sir Jackie Stewart then sold the outfit to Ford Motor Company in 1999 and it was rebranded as Jaguar Racing. The team’s fortunes didn’t change, opening the door for Red Bull to storm into the Formula 1 paddock in 2005 after founder Dietrich Mateschitz teamed up with Dr Helmut Marko to take over the ailing outfit with a mission to bring the boisterous energy brand to the top of the motorsport world.

The Austrian company was previously part of F1 when they sponsored Sauber from 1995 to 2004, but their involvement was now much larger in scope. Along with a team, Red Bull also created the Red Bull Junior Team to help bring young drivers through motorsport.

On the track the experienced David Coulthard was brought in to stabilize the young outfit with the young Christian Klien alongside, and the team accumulated more points in 2005 than Jaguar had in 2003 and 2004. It would be the only year the team would use Cosworth engines, moving on to Ferrari in 2006 before settling with Renault from 2007 to 2015.

However the biggest addition would come in the hiring of Adrian Newey from McLaren, with the Brit having designed championship-winning cars for the Woking-outfit and Williams F1 before that. His addition paid off immediately, as the RB3 would finish fifth in the 2007 constructors’ championship, a marked improvement on the seventh achieved the year before.

Vettel leads Red Bull to F1 glory

The real success began in 2009 with Sebastian Vettel taking the stage after impressing for Toro Rosso in 2008. Red Bull achieved it’s first pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix, with their first victory coming a day later in the rain thanks to the German with teammate Mark Webber second. Vettel would finish the season second in the Drivers’ Championship, 11 points behind Brawn Racing’s Jenson Button.

It proved to be the first act of a successful few years for Red Bull as Vettel would dominate the F1 landscape for the next four years. The pairing would win four world titles in a row from 2010 to 2013, the first of which made Vettel the sport’s youngest champion. Red Bull would also claim the Constructors’ title in those years thanks to Webber’s continued development.

No further titles would come however as Renault powered cars struggled to keep up with Mercedes and Ferrari. Red Bull’s relationship with the French outfit would break down to the point that the 2016 engine was rebranded as TAG Heuer due to a public falling out between the two parties.

Verstappen era begins

It wasn’t all bad as upstart Max Verstappen was promoted from Toro Rosso, replacing Daniil Kvyat ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. The decision paid off immediately, with Verstappen winning his maiden outing for the team to become the youngest Grand Prix winner.

Renault and Red Bull finally went their separate ways during the 2018 season with the Austrian outfit opting for Honda power in 2019. Verstappen has since gone on to claim five victories over the past two years, but the team has struggled to find a partner able to challenge the Dutchman and push the team forward.

As a result Sergio Perez has been brought in, fresh off an impressive fourth-place finish with Racing Point, to partner Verstappen as Red Bull look to recapture the form that made them the gold standard at the start of the 2010s.