Red Bull’s newly established Formula 1 engine division, Red Bull Powertrains, has announced an important hiring of rival Mercedes.
After signing his current contract as technical director at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Powertrains, Ben Hodgkinson will move to Red Bull Powertrains as technical director. He has spent over two decades with the manufacturer who has won both F1 world titles in the past seven years.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Hodgkinson “comes to this extremely exciting project as a proven race winner and an innovator able to lead a like-minded team of highly skilled engineers.”
The new Red Bull Powertrains division will be built at the team’s headquarters in Milton Keynes, not far from the Mercedes engine plant in Brixworth. It will take over the maintenance and production of the team’s Honda engines after the manufacturer left F1 later this year.
“When Red Bull announced the creation of Red Bull Powertrains, it also heralded a new phase in the company’s goal in Formula 1 – to take every aspect of car design and take our fate into our own hands,” said Horner.
“The ultimate expression for this is the development of a Red Bull engine that meets the requirements of the next generation of Formula 1 engines. Ben’s appointment signals our long-term intent and we will support him and his team with all available resources necessary for success. “
Hodgkinson admitted, “The decision to leave HPP after nearly 20 years was not an easy one, but the opportunity to take on such a far-reaching and important project is a great honor.”
“Red Bull is a serious player in Formula 1 and was our biggest rival in the hybrid era,” he added. “I look forward to seeing what we can achieve together in this new phase of the corporate journey.”
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