Supposedly, Porsche will join forces with Red Bull ahead of the arrival of the new F1 engines for 2026, a project that is currently housed in the structure of Red Bull Powertrains .
If Porsche finally reaches an agreement with the Austrians and Honda will supply its engines until 2025, a very interesting question arises; what is the job of the current Red Bull Powertrains employees at the moment?
“Well, everyone is already working on the new 2026 engine, as far as that regulation has been established,” Helmut Marko replied in conversations with Formel1.de , Motorsport.com’s sister publication in Germany.
Flight of personnel in the section of engines of Mercedes in F1
“We are pleased that we are at least on schedule. Red Bull Powertrains should be fully operational by the middle of this year and that means the test benches will be calibrated and running at full capacity. The facilities are ready.”
“In parallel to this, of course, we need to set up our own production line. Our advantage is that we have a very versatile team. People from Honda have been hired to work on our project, some of the Red Bull staff have been displaced. and experts from Mercedes have been hired,” Marko added.
Referring to the Brackley team’s poor start, the Red Bull team believes it could also be due to this brain drain: “I don’t have detailed knowledge of the situation at Mercedes, but those problems must have something to do with the new fuel. And it would also be normal that it was due to all the people who have left there, first with Andy Cowell and then fifty other very good employees, that shows “.
When asked if that was the number (50) of the Mercedes staff who had landed at Red Bull , this was Helmut Marko ‘s reply: “Actually the number is close to that, yes.”
The Austrian team’s top adviser also believes that Mercedes can bounce back from the poor start to the 2022 season: “The Formula 1 era that started in 2014 was largely determined by the new engines, with Mercedes dominating in a big way. There were two seconds faster than everyone else, but of course they didn’t want to show that.”
“Now the chassis has changed and the differences between the engines are not that big either. But at Mercedes they are used to going out on the track and immediately starting to celebrate,” he added.
“They have a very big team. They also have very good people in the chassis department. I am absolutely convinced that they will come back to the front when they get the famous porpoising under control. On the other hand, Hamilton is only nine points behind Verstappen, that difference is not either It’s nothing really,” the Red Bull adviser concluded.
