Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner has responded to claims staff were increasingly looking to leave his team by revealing how the Powertrains side of their business has so far poached 220 staff from Formula 1 rivals Mercedes.
Dominant F1 World Champions have been unsettled by allegations against Horner of misconduct towards a female employee, which the boss has denied and been cleared of.
Star designer Adrian Newey has announced he is leaving next year and McLaren boss Zak Brown told reporters at the weekend's Miami Grand Prix that resumes were flying around and Newey was the first domino to fall.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who has been making overtures to Red Bull's triple world champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton's seat to fill, said his team had "seen Red Bull CVs through all of the levels."
Horner told reporters after Sunday's race, with McLaren's Lando Norris taking his first win, that there would always be movement between teams: "I don’t know how many people we’ve employed from McLaren this year or how many people VCARB (Red Bull's RB sister team) have employed (from) Mercedes.
"We’ve taken 220 people, 220 out of HPP (Mercedes AMG's High-Performance Powertrains) into Red Bull Powertrains, so when we’re talking of losing people, I’d be a bit more worried about the 220 than maybe one or two CVs."
Red Bull are building their own powertrain for 2026, when the sport undergoes a major engine rule change, with a major expansion at their Milton Keynes facility.
Horner's response is the latest in a war of words among his rivals in the F1 paddock an a number of fronts, even Red Bull big boss Oliver Mintzlaff slinging it our verbally with Wolff.
Red Bull are currently into their third season of total dominance of Formula 1, with few if anyone betting they and their Dutch star Max Verstappen will wrap up both 2024 F1 titles, drivers and constructors.
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