The animated manner of their exchanges and gesticulations suggested not everything had been resolved or said in that previous discussion involving the drivers, and there was plenty more that each side wanted to get off their chest.
And side feels like an apt word, as it appeared to be Vermeulen and Horner who were most animated at each other. The man in charge of the latest double world champion, and the man in charge of the team that took him to those titles.
“Mateschitz’s death leaves at least a degree of uncertainty”
Clashes and disagreements are mot unusual in a Formula 1 team, this is a high-stakes game after all where emotions run extremely high, fuelled by even higher adrenaline levels at times. But you’d have been forgiven for thinking the situation Red Bull found itself in meant it should be a case of happy families.
Major events can destabilise things, though, and the whole Red Bull group certainly went through one with the recent passing of co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz. Red Bull Racing was very much one of his projects and he ensured the team reflected the ethos he wanted when it joined the grid back in 2005, while still pushing for future success.
His death during the United States Grand Prix weekend leaves at least a degree of uncertainty about how the team will be left to operate in the future, and leadership is being tested already.