© Red Bull Racing

The 300 ClubHappy Anniversary Red Bull Racing! This is our 300th race and to celebrate we’re having a chat with some of the people who were here for race #001.

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Guenther Steiner At Australia 2005© Red Bull Racing

The newly-minted Team Principal Christian Horner would certainly have been happy two days later to see both cars come home in the points, with David Coulthard fourth and Christian Klien seventh. The sight of those dark blue cars with the yellow nose was still a novelty; Red Bull’s approach to F1 was still a novelty – but neither would be for long.

Sixteen seasons, four double championships, 63 victories, 62 poles and 180 podiums later we’re celebrating the big 300 this weekend in Turkey. A lot has changed at Red Bull Racing since March 2005: more buildings, more people, a much bigger trophy cabinet in Bradbourne Drive for a start – but there’s also a lot that remains the same, including, it transpires, 156 members of staff. That’s a very big number for what, in the modern context was a relatively small team at the time.

“In terms of size, it’s massive now, compared to what it was then,” says Chief Mechanic Phil Turner. “When I started, we had one building – Building One – and now we have nine. We had 300 people and now have upwards of 800. That’s a big difference.”

Phil was a no.2 mechanic in Red Bull’s first year, though he traces his tenure back to the pre-F1 days of the organisation where he was an apprentice mechanic with day release at the local college. “It feels the same,” says Phil. “For a big team, we’re like a small family really. Everyone gets on really well; the atmosphere is really good; between the guys on the race team and the factory. It’s just a really good place to work.”

Chief Mechanic Phil Turner At 2020 Pre-Season Testing© Getty Images

That sentiment is echoed by Tony Burrows, another Stewart alumni who, despite an excellent racing pedigree has spent the last 16 years far away from the trackside operation. “Stewart Grand Prix was the last time I went racing! I started working there as a mechanic, and then became chief mechanic on the test team and then test team manager. I was the test team manager at Jaguar and then Red Bull Racing and the spirit has always been there, right back to the beginning with Stewart – but it’s been magnified since we became Red Bull Racing. We’ve got some great people in and it’s changed enormously. It’s just a great place to work.”

When the moratorium on private testing effectively rendered the concept of a test team obsolete, Tony moved over to run our support team. It’s still a proving ground for young mechanics eager to take on more responsibility – but it’s also responsible for taking our Live Demo cars to places F1 cars haven’t been before.

“We’ve done many, many show car events in interesting and unusual places – which is where Red Bull like to go,” says Tony. “The ones that stand out for me are up in the Himalayas, which was fantastic; on the frozen lakes in Quebec with Sébastien Buemi, and along the beach in the Dominican Republic. They’re all standout events and challenging in their own way.”

Befitting the globe-trotting he and his team do, it is oddly appropriate that his favourite moment did not involve being live at the race but rather watching remotely, half a continent away. “You’d think the first championship was the stand-out moment, but actually it’s Sebastian Vettel’s third title, where he spun in Brazil and was last at the end of lap one,” says Tony. “We were in Chile doing a show car event up in the mountains, watching the race on a small screen. The disappointment when Seb spun at the start was unbelievable – but to watch him charge through the field, coming back to win the Championship… that’s something I’ll never forget.”

Tony Burrows During 2017 Winter Testing© Getty Images

Dave Boys, Race Team Build Manager, is rather more conventional in his selection, choosing Red Bull Racing’s first victory, in China 2009, and its first Championship victory, Brazil 2010, as his standout moments – but he insists it's the people rather than the trophies of which he is most proud.

“At the start, we might have thought, because it was an energy drink manufacturer it wouldn’t have the drive or devotion for F1 – but that was proved totally wrong,” says Dave, whose team take some of the weight off the race team mechanics by stripping and preparing the cars in the factory. “I feel immensely proud – of both the original people and those that are here now. We’ve got a great bunch that have grown with the team: they’re all motivated; they all push hard; they’re all driven by the same goals.”

Times and technology have changed in F1 over the last decade-and-a-half, and few people have felt that change more acutely than Head of Strategy Will Courtenay. Will joined Jaguar Racing in 2004 as a systems engineer, looking after sensors and electronics. He continued in that role during 2005 before moving over to strategy in 2006.

Will Courtenay Back In 2004© Red Bull Racing

“It’s changed immensely from 2006 when I started doing this job,” he says. “Back then, we were just reading lap times off a TV screen. Now we have digital timing data, GPS data, video feeds, driver radio for all the drivers. We have so much information to listen to and process. It’s quite overwhelming. It’s trying to deal with all of that data and make sense out of it. That’s been quite a challenge.”

Will picks the first race win in 2009, and the Championships of 2010 as his highlights – but he has a lot less difficulty choosing his worst day in racing. “Monaco 2016 – when we nearly won with Daniel and then it all went horribly wrong,” he confesses. “So many bad things happened that day but we learned a lot from it and hopefully it made us stronger as a team. Thankfully Daniel went back and won it two years later – so we didn't blow his one and only chance.”

Will’s sphere of influence continues to develop at pace. Strategy remains a dark art but it is one of the most hard-fought areas of technical prowess contested in F1 today. “All the talk now is about AI and machine learning and big data processes – it’s going to be really interesting to see how that affects the sport,” says Will. “Maybe in ten years my job won’t exist because computers will be doing it for me – I hope that’s not the case!”

Will has the distinction of working every race that Red Bull Racing has contested. In recent years, he’s alternated his role on the pit wall with Senior Strategy Engineer Hannah Schmitz – with whichever isn’t at the track providing support from the AT&T Operations Room at the factory. The only day he’s missed during Red Bull’s 300 grands prix is race day in Hungary last year – when his second son was born. For someone with a more complete record, one must turn to Ole Schack, Max Verstappen’s Front-End Mechanic. Ole will buckle Max into his seat for Sunday’s race, just as he buckled DC into the RB1’s cockpit on the grid in Albert Park back in 2005. Ole hasn’t missed a day.

“I arrived the previous year, in 2004, when the cars were painted green,” recalls Ole. “I thought I’d finally made it into F1 and then Jaguar announced they were finishing! Luckily enough before Christmas we got the best present when Red Bull announced they were buying the team!”

“Everyone was aware of what we wanted to achieve – but to finish that first race fourth, and to score more points in the first three races than we’d scored the previous season really felt like we were punching above our weight – we all knew we could move up if we developed.”

“Then there were things like the Energy Station. Coming to Europe, everyone saw that and were asking “who are these boys?”. Things like Chilled Thirstday, where everyone was invited to come in after work and have a social gathering – it was a while before other teams were allowed – but we were doing something new.”

Ole Schack On The Podium In Singapore 2012© Getty Images

Ole says being in the garage for every single race has been a privilege but he argues the team he’s seen over the intervening 300 races is essentially unchanged. “The sport has changed a huge amount – but the team hasn’t,” he says. “We were the first ones with the Energy Station concept, the first to play loud music in the garage – which we still do so many years later – I think it’s part of our DNA.

“I’ve seen the team grow and there have been highs and lows – but everyone coming in has the same goals: we want to win – and we’re given the tools to win. That atmosphere is the same as it ever was. We’ve been here a lot of years now but we still feel like a young team. We still set the standards on a lot of stuff and that motivates people. We’ve got more people than when I started but the ethos is the same. We are desperate to win. It doesn’t matter what hours we have to do, people are just desperate to win – and it will come.”

Here’s to the next 300 races.