But now it's fallen far off its pace, Vettel has left for Ferrari, its Renault engines are under-performing and Mercedes has taken its place far away at the front of the pack. And Red Bull says if something doesn't change soon, it could pull out of the sport entirely.
The threat was issued by Helmut Marko, who advises Red Bull chief Dietrich Mateschitz on the company's racing activities. "We will evaluate the situation again as every year and look into costs and revenues," Marko was quoted as saying. "If we are totally dissatisfied we could contemplate an F1 exit... the danger is there that Mr. Mateschitz loses his passion for F1." Marko points to the engines as the source of the problem with the sport's current era: "These power units are the wrong solution for F1, and we would say this even if Renault were in the lead."
Marko may just be belly-aching, but he's hardly the first one to express dissatisfaction with the current engine regulations. Still, even if Red Bull were to up and leave the sport, it wouldn't mean the team itself would simply vanish: the energy drink company bought the team from Ford and Jaguar late in 2004, building it up to the front-running outfit it is today, and would presumably sell it to someone else if it no longer wished to participate. That would also likely mean the sale of Scuderia Toro Rosso (which the company also owns), but that may take place soon anyway.
