The wind tunnel testing allocation is based on where the team is in the WCC rankings, with the allocation being adjusted halfway through the year - I believe that the next adjustment is due to take place in a couple of days, as it happens.IceG wrote: ↑23 Jun 2023, 09:57 The Red Bull approach seems counter-productive.
The Mercedes and Ferrari teams have a history of well-matched drivers who could both get great results from the car. Yes there is still a team hierarchy but Irvine, Rosberg and Bottas were still fabulous in their day.
Red Bull manufacture a car for one driver (Max/Seb) and the other seems to struggle.
This suggests that RB prioritises the Driver's chanmpionship (where all the publicity is) over the Constructor's championship (where the prize money is).
I cannot remember how the wind tunnel handicapping works - is that based on team or driver points/positions?
As for Red Bull's position towards their drivers, it is worth bearing in mind that Red Bull has a different marketing strategy to the likes of Ferrari or Mercedes. In the case of those two manufacturers, the emphasis is on the success of the team as a whole and the brand strategy revolves around that success, which means they are more invested in the World Constructors Championship.
Red Bull's marketing strategy, by contrast, is very driver oriented - even before Vettel won his first title, Horner rather strongly indicated that Red Bull wanted him to win the WDC because they felt that he fitted the corporate identity of Red Bull far better than Webber did, and that the return on investment that Red Bull would get from building up Vettel's image would be greater than that of Webber.
There was something of a similar trend with Ricciardo too, with Red Bull cashing in on the fact that his attitude played well with the press. With Verstappen, there is a similar careful curation of his media image and a strategy of creating a controlled media environment around him that pumps out a particularly favourable image - just look at the deal that Max signed with Viaplay, which centres around him and his father producing exclusive media content for subscribers in return for a sizeable retainer, and possibly even getting shares in that media company as a perk for sales which are attributed to his show.
I can't think of another driver who has been signing those sorts of media deals, and it sounds like the sort of deal that is being brokered by Red Bull's media department - for all the "devil may care" attitude that Max might show towards the media, the relationship he has with organisations like Viaplay suggest that there may be an element of that attitude being put on for the media to create just the sort of image that Red Bull thinks strikes a strong cord with the sort of fan they want to appeal towards.
If the team has a more driver centred marketing strategy, there is a much stronger incentive for them to orientate towards a set up that builds up the success, and thus the reputation, of their lead driver. In the same way that a car company might create a "halo product" that draws attention to them, there is an incentive for Red Bull to build up Max's reputation for the purpose of advertising their own prowess in creating such a great driver.
(Tony Jardine, 1988)