Max Verstappen has denied Red Bull had to remove a now-illegal technical innovation from its 2024 car.
It’s been a rocky period for the recently-dominant Formula 1 team, amid declining performance, internal conflict, and the loss not only of Adrian Newey but also sporting director Jonathan Wheatley.
Because of the budget cap, consultant Dr Helmut Marko said Red Bull could not compete with Audi’s big-money offer for Wheatley to become a team boss.
"When you get an offer like that, your ambition is of course to move up," triple world champion Verstappen said. "That was simply not possible with us, and if you have to deal with the budget cap, then you can’t easily match the offer.
"As I said earlier, there are no hard feelings."
Verstappen, 26, said Wheatley is being replaced from within, amid speculation that rival teams will continue to try to poach even more Red Bull team members.
"I think that’s life in Formula 1, especially when you have been very successful," said the Dutchman. "It’s normal that other teams try to steal people away."
But while big-name staff departures are a definite blow to Red Bull, Verstappen insists a new FIA directive outlawing asymmetrical braking systems is not aimed at the energy drink company’s F1 team.
"I don’t know where that comes from," said the triple world champion, "but we don’t have that on the car, so we’re not worried about it."
Red Bull does not have any updates on its car for Zandvoort, and it is even rumoured that the specification has been wound back somewhat.
"I would rather speak about downdates than updates," Marko laughed to Kleine Zeitung newspaper. "But I am optimistic. We were not as bad as we looked recently.
"Qualifying will be particularly important in Zandvoort," he added. "Together with McLaren, we are certainly among the favourites."
Indeed, McLaren’s Lando Norris is the closest title challenger to Verstappen, with a 78 point deficit and ten races to go.
"Personally, I don’t see anybody catching up with Max and Red Bull in normal circumstances," Mercedes’ George Russell said on Thursday. "They have an exceptional lead.
"It’s just we’ve been used to crazy dominance in the last two years."