They say that all in love and war is fair and that attracting staff from your rival Formula One team’s Power Unit Development division likely falls under the latter category. Red Bull had already announced in April that it had selected the former head of mechanical engineering at Mercedes, Ben Hodgkinson, as its new technical director. Now five more new hires have been revealed, and wouldn’t you know they’re all faces Hodgkinson is likely to recognize in the office?
The news was spread this morning by Motorsport.com::
Mercedes production manager Steve Blewett becomes Red Bull’s production manager.
Omid Mostaghimi, head of Mercedes’s F1 electronics team, will become Red Bull’s head of powertrains, electronics and ERS.
Pip Clode, head of Mercedes’ F1 engine concept team, will become Red Bull’s ERS head of mechanical design.
Anton Mayo, a head of the Mercedes engineering team, will be head of ICE powertrain design, while Steve Brodie, Mercedes F1 track and final inspection manager, will be Red Bull’s ICE operations group leader.
Red Bull brings together the best minds in the industry to develop its own power unit to be used from 2025. Honda, which is currently building the engines in Red Bull and AlphaTauri F1 cars, will be retiring from the sport after this season is over. From the beginning of 2022 to the beginning of 2025, engine development will be frozen. Teams will not be able to upgrade their hardware in the last few years of the current formula before the big change in regulations.
That gives Red Bull some breathing space as it inherits the technical work of Honda and some of its employees – in addition to the great minds of Mercedes.
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Italian outlet last week Corriere dello Sport reported that Hodgkinson tried to convince some Mercedes employees to follow him to the Austrian team, which triggered an “alarm” from the reigning master designer. Mercedes has the most powerful engine on the grid since Ferrari was tacitly penalized for its fuel flow violations in 2019, and what employees have learned since then will now be incorporated into Red Bull’s research and development.
And Red Bull could get even more support from a big manufacturer – something that Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff cleverly pointed out in an interview before the Portuguese Grand Prix last weekend (with Christian Horner from Red Bull in the room!). Of Ars Technica::
“I think the right strategic steps, as far as I can see, were taken by Red Bull,” said Wolff. “I think they are doing two lanes with their own power unit and maybe a new OEM, and that is certainly smart, and the agreement that Honda made on the intellectual property transfer is also wise.
On the street it is said that the OEM Wolff is referring to is Porsche, which surprisingly took an active part in shaping the engine regulations for 2025, despite not having been officially involved in Formula 1. In March it was reported that Porsche was preparing getting into the sport, maybe as a full-fledged designer or just as a driving force partner for a team like Red Bull. Hopefully we won’t have to wait much longer to find out – the rumors and intrigues are reaching a critical mass.
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