Could Red Bull exit Formula One?

Disqualification of Daniel Ricciardo in Australia could lead to Red Bull’s withdrawal from F1.

Red Bull could leave Formula One. Owner Dietrich Mateschitz said the company would quit the motorsport if it remains in its current state. The revelation comes in the wake of Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification at the 2014 season opener in Melbourne, Australia.

“The question is not so much whether it makes economic sense, but the reasons would have to do with sportsmanship, political influence, etc,” Mateschitz said in an interview with Austrian newspaper Kurier when asked about whether unfavourable economic conditions could become an issue. “We’ve already seen this sort of thing. And overall, for us, they would have to constitute a clear limit.”

Ricciardo finished in second position before the FIA disqualified him from the race for using too much fuel. Mateschitz said the move was a mistake on the F1 governing body’s part. “The team has lodged a protest. The fact is that the fuel flow sensor that was stipulated by the FIA gave different values when used as specified in testing – and therefore, it’s inaccurate. We can prove the exact fuel flow. And it was within the regulations,” he added.

Mateschitz went on to criticise the new quiet V6 turbocharged engines and how the sport has become too slow. “Formula 1 needs to be turned back into what it once was: the supreme discipline. It is not there to set new records in fuel consumption, nor to allow you to talk in a whisper during a race, where the loudest noises are the pit radio and the squealing tires.

“I consider it equally absurd that we’re lapping around a second slower than last year and that the junior GP2 series already offers more motorsport lap times that are almost as fast as Formula 1 at a fraction of the budget.”

Red Bull dominated the 2013 F1 season, suggesting the sudden break from the norm is a akin to throwing its toys out of the pram. The team, however, has vowed to reduce the gap between itself and Mercedes. “There are 18 races still to go. We will be back,” he concluded.

Organisers of the Australian Grand Prix have also expressed anger at the new season, claiming they had been short-changed.

An acoustic engineer at Salford University shed some light on why the new engines sound less visceral than the old V8s.