Red Bull signed ‘over 200 people from Mercedes’ as Newey and Wheatley exits addressed

Red Bull boss Christian Horner spoke of Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley as two out of a team of 2,000, with more than 200 of those apparently poached from Mercedes.

Red Bull is undergoing a process of restructuring in their more senior roles with the impending departures of figures like F1 design guru Adrian Newey, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley and strategy chief Will Courtenay.

Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley ‘just two of 2000’ at Red Bull

Newey will take on the newly-created role of managing technical partner at Aston Martin from March 2025, while Wheatley is to become Audi F1 team principal, as the German manufacturer prepares to join the grid for F1 2026.

Courtenay, meanwhile, will become McLaren’s new sporting director.

However, when quizzed on the losses of Newey and Wheatley by Channel 4 , Horner stressed that the duo forms just 0.1 per cent of the overall Red Bull Racing workforce, with their “more public facing” reputation meaning such exits draw the attention.

And so, Horner believes Red Bull has the personnel to handle the departures of Newey and Wheatley, as he made reference to their productive poaching mission at rivals Mercedes down the road.

Red Bull are preparing to become an F1 power unit manufacturer for the first time in F1 2026 as they partner up with Ford for the new regulations.

Asked how much of a loss Newey will be for Red Bull, Horner replied: “Starting with Adrian, we had an amazing run with Adrian.

“He’s been a big part of everything we’ve done and we’ll look back with great fondness and pride in everything that we achieved collectively.

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“But he’s chosen to take on a new challenge. We knew that was coming. We’ve sort of been gearing up for that.

“Adrian has been on the brink of retiring for 10 years! So we had to be prepared for that and I believe we’ve got strength and depth. He’s chosen to continue and continue elsewhere.

“And of course, Jonathan, likewise, a long-term member, but they’re two more higher-profile names. The reality is that’s just two people out of 2000 people that we have within the group.

“We’ve recruited, I think, close to 250 people during the last 12 months, across the project, into powertrains, into the brand new engine shop that we’re building.

“We don’t talk about the over 200 people we’ve bought from Mercedes. There’s a lot of focus on the two people that are leaving, because they’re slightly more public facing.”

Newey first joined Red Bull back in 2006, his designs playing a critical role in the team’s six Constructors’ and seven Drivers’ titles so far, with Wheatley similarly playing an integral part having joined in the same year as Newey.

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