Ferrari looking to ‘poach key Red Bull engineers’ amid tension at Christian Horner’s team
Ferrari are reportedly eyeing three key Red Bull engineers as the Scuderia look to take advantage of the current unrest at the F1 world champions.
The saga involving Christian Horner and a female colleague accusing him of “inappropriate behaviour” – though the team principal was cleared after an internal probe – has uncovered numerous tensions within the Red Bull camp.
Another tumultuous weekend in Saudi Arabia saw star driver Max Verstappen threaten to leave if adviser Helmut Marko was forced out. Red Bull GmbH chief Oliver Mintzlaff played down those rumours, with all involved keen to move on despite the continued protestations of Max’s father, Jos.
However Ferrari, lagging far behind Red Bull alongside the rest of the grid this season, are looking to capitalise on the situation by signing up key aerodynamicists and performance engineers for 2025, when Lewis Hamilton joins the team from Mercedes.
Italian outlet Gazzetta Dello Sport says Ferrari are eyeing an approach to Red Bull’s leader of aerodynamic development Alessandro Germani, head of performance Ben Waterhouse and on-track aerodynamic officer David Morgan.
The report adds that the prancing horse would consider a potentially game-changing move for Adrian Newey, should Red Bull’s design guru made it known he wants to leave the team.
Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was noticeable for the presence of Ferrari chairman John Elkann in Jeddah, who watched British 18-year-old Ollie Bearman’s tremendous drive to seventh place on debut.
Elkann, alongside team principal Fred Vasseur, was instrumental in luring Hamilton to the Italian giants next year on a multi-year contract and was seen in a meeting with Mintzlaff, though that likely related to the terms of the next Concorde Agreement – the set of financial and commercial regulations that all 10 F1 teams agree to.
With regards to Horner, his accuser reportedly has until the end of Tuesday to appeal against the outcome of the month-long investigation into Horner’s conduct.
The female complainant was suspended by Red Bull Racing on full pay last Thursday.
Separately, Red Bull denied reports on Sunday that the parent company were looking to oust Horner before the Australian Grand Prix next week. The 50-year-old is expected to be present in his current role in Melbourne, as Red Bull look to maintain their perfect start to the season.
