With the loss of Honda as Red Bull Racing’s engine supplier, the team led by Christian Horner decided to build their own engine. They took a lot of expertise away from competitors. Between Mercedes and Red Bull, this acquisition created a big million-dollar battle.
Red Bull which set up Red Bull Powertrains with the help of Honda, had to look for people with expertise in the world of F1 engines. Everywhere, the team snatched up key people with attractive offers. The team reportedly snatched as many as fifty staff members from Mercedes. Some would say it is smart to look at the big winner of the past eight years, Mercedes itself is logically not very happy about it.
Millions laid out for Mercedes staff
Although Wolff is flippant about it and said that his team can spare the staff members, it seems that things are a little different. Team boss Horner, in conversation with the British Telegraph, is candid about the million dollar legal battle between the two teams: “In the fight for a few employees we had to deposit a million in court. You don’t have that to spare for staff that you can mis.”
Mercedes is not yet in good shape in 2022. Largely, that’s down to the car the team has built. The porpoising in the Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton is so bad that they had to elevate on the straight in Italy, otherwise the car could not stabilize for the braking point. Russell even sustained back injuries from the hobbling. Still, the engine doesn’t seem as dominant as previous years either. According to Horner, this is for good reason and the drain of intellect at the team contributes to this. “It must have an effect on them,” says the Brit.
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