Red Bull fans have David Coulthard to thank for his role behind the scenes in helping Red Bull to become serious contenders in Formula 1.
The British racer was something of a coup for the team when it first launched in the 2005 season. He was their lead driver that year and his reputation alone helped Red Bull to establish itself on the grid.
But there was still a stigma about them. Seen as a "party team" in the sport more for the prestige and the marketing than the racing itself, something had to be done which would begin to transform perceptions – make people believe Red Bull were serious about competition.
Adrian Newey was quickly identified as the perfect recruit. Signing someone with his reputation and talent would send a signal to everyone in the F1 world that Red Bull meant business. And, as the team's chief technical officer explained in a new interview, Coulthard had a big role in convincing him to make the move.
"David's a good friend, somebody whose judgment I very much trusted, and David gave it a big thumbs-up," said Newey. in an interview on the team's website. "[Red Bull] was always having big discos – was this a team that would be taken seriously? But if you went beneath that veneer, then to me it looked like, yes, it had all the building blocks."
Before Coulthard's endorsement, team principal Christian Horner and their other long-serving leader Helmut Marko had been laying the groundwork. Newey recalled how he suddenly started bumping into Horner everywhere he went in the paddock, before describing a typically blunt interaction with Marko.
Laughing, he added: "Christian made a habit through the 2005 season that I would be walking into the paddock, I think Silverstone has the clearest memory, he always happened to be walking. There was another chance interchange and we started to talk a bit more.
"And then this gentleman in a black leather jacket suddenly popped out from behind a truck and said, 'I'm Helmut Marko, here is my card. We will ring'." Of course, he did ring – and after negotiations Red Bull suddenly had a technology chief who had designed numerous championship-winning cars for Williams and McLaren.
After a few years of settling in properly, Newey began to do the same for Red Bull. To this day he remains a very important part of Horner's team, contributing to four titles in a row between 2010 and 2013 as well as back-to-back championships for Max Verstappen – and finally regaining the constructors' crown this year.
