Red Bull triples investment in F1 team

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Financial statements from Red Bull have revealed just how costly Formula 1 has proved for the drinks company in the last year.

The work required to meet the sport's latest technical regulations meant that Red Bull Racing's costs increased by 9.2 per cent, according to Forbes magazine.

The team also suffered the loss of main title sponsor Infiniti during this period.

Red Bull has since signed up new sponsors including Aston Martin, Puma and TAG Heuer. However, this has not fully covered the amount they used to receive via their deal with Infiniti.

The team was also affected by a drop in the share of F1 prize money. For the most recent reporting period, this amount was calculated from their underwhelming fourth place finish in the 2015 constructors championship.

Two wins last season in Spain and Malaysia also triggered the payout of staff bonuses reflected in the accounts.

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Overall, the team's parent company has revealed that it has upped its overall investment in Red Bull Racing from £10.1m in 2015 to £40.6m.

However, owner Dietrich Mateschitz is reported to be unhappy with his return on that investment. So far in 2017 Red Bull have won just one race in Azerbaijan. They are currently in third place in the constructors standings.

Mateschitz also owns and operates Scuderia Toro Rosso. The junior team is in sixth place after 14 of this season's 20 Grand Prix events.

Red Bull motorsport consultant Dr Helmut Marko recently stated that he was frustrated with the team's performance.

"A great investment was made in Toro Rosso," Marko said last month. "But they cannot materialise that into points."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner been a strong advocate of the need to reduce engine cost and complexity in the future. The next overhaul of regulations is due in 2021.

The team will end its deal with current engine suppliers Renault at the end of 2018. There's speculation that it might follow Toro Rosso to Honda, or that Aston Martin might enter the sport as manufacturer.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.