The famous F1 ‘Piranha club’ are at it again. Sensing blood in the water McLaren’s Zak Brown recently suggested he’d had a flood of interest from Red Bull personnel since it became clear Adrian Newey was leaving the Red Bull team. Brown claimed Newey was the “first domino to fall.’
Toto Wolff joined the feeding frenzy at the F1 team principal’s FIA press conference stating: “Zak is absolutely correct, we are seeing Red Bull CVs through all the level.” Clearly Christian Horner was not going to take this lying down and he responded icily claiming, “Mercedes? We’ve taken 220 people, 220, out of HPP into Red Bull Powertrains so when we talk about losing people I would be more worried about the 220 than one or two CVs.”
Mercedes play down losing staff to Red Bull
Two weeks on from this spat in Miami and Mercedes Technical Director James Allison sought to play down Horner’s numbers and the notion Mercedes were suffering brain drain.
“I think it’s more in the normal ebb and flow of an F1 team,” he said in Friday’s team personnel press conference. “The teams are big these days and, in any given year, you are shipping out a whole bunch of people and shipping in a matching number. That will be true in nearly every team.”
The Mercedes boss appeared to have ben doing some abacus work of his own as he countered the claims Horner made in Miami. “You got to work on the maths. 19 engineers,” Toto claimed to assembled media in Imola.
“Whatever those numbers are, I think there’s natural fluctuations between teams that come and go, which is completely normal. I think we have an engine department that is as good as it can be with top leadership,” Toto added.
Newey banned from Red Bull F1 design meetings
Horner claims to now have 220 Mercedes staff
Red Bull are attempting to do something for 2026 which no F1 team has ever done before by building their own power units rather than buy from an auto manufacturer. This time around the regulations for the new F1 power units come with a cost cap to prevent a repeat of the reported $1bn in research and development spent by Mercedes prior to the V6 Turbo hybrid era began in 2014. And so its entirely possible that due to these restrictions Brixworth HPP unit has in recent years shed a significant number of its employees to come in under budget for their 2026 power unit design.
Whether Horner will arrive in Monaco this weekend with the list of the 220 names, is anybody’s guess, but ex-Ferrari and McLaren manager Peter Wolff believes Toto should have other matters at the centre of his attention.
Mercedes have struggled for three seasons with their car design and despite limping home to second in the constructors’ championship last year their fortunes do not appear to be changing. They are clearly behind Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari as demonstrated by the time sheets in Italy this weekend, as Lewis Hamilton came home 35 seconds behind race winner Max Verstappen.
In qualifying Mercedes were behind their three rivals, although a brilliant lap from George Russell saw him just 0.001 second behind Carlos Sainz in P5, although the Ferrari driver did struggle in Imola compared to his team mate.
Hamilton defends Antonelli against Wolff
Analysis: Wolff’s claimed progress ‘delusional’
The silver arrows team brought upgrades to Imola and expectations were high these would close the gap to the front of the field – they didn’t. Post-qualifying on Saturday saw Wolff claim that Mercedes were “right up there” with the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari, but Windsor dismisses this as nonsense.
In his analysis posted on his YouTube channel, the 72 year old noted that Hamilton and Russell’s lap times were in fact similar to Yuki Tsunoda, and given the struggles of the Red Bull’s junior team, this is little progress at all.
“McLaren are proving their worth,” said Windsor. “Ferrari have improved a lot last year. It’s only Mercedes really who keep saying, ‘Yeah we’ve improved a lot with small bits here and small bits there’, then it’s one step forward, half a step back.
“And in case of qualifying, Toto Wolff saying we’re right up there, we’re only half a second away from the poll shows the sort of improvements that we’re making. And yet at the same time, the two Mercedes [drivers were] split by Yuki Tsunoda in the second B team Red Bull car, which isn’t progress at all.”
Vasseur makes it clear Hamilton will not be No.1
Ferrari boss mocks Mercedes efforts
Mercedes have had their worst ever start to an F1 season this year with neither driver in seven Grand Prix finishing better than a fifth place which was claimed by George Russell in Bahrain. Before being ‘gifted’ his P6 in Imola, Hamilton’s best efforts was finishing seventh as the seven times world champion appears to have his head out of the door.
After the Emilia-Romagne Grand Prix, Toto Wolff declared, ”It’s not possible to see it in terms of the result, but we have taken a small step forward this weekend. Our closest competitors have also done so recently, but we have closed the gap to the front a little. We still have a lot of work to do and of course, we are all frustrated finishing P6 and P7.
“There is more to come though, and it is all about making incremental gains. These are what we need to keep delivering if we are to get ourselves in the fight with the three teams ahead of us. With George’s second stop, our wear forecasts showed that he may struggle to make it last to the end of the race on the hard tyre,” the Mercedes boss concluded.
Even the understated Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur made the sarcastic repose when asked about Mercedes claims of progress. “The Mercedes? They were 28 seconds behind Charles at the end of the race, so yes, I think they got a little closer,” smiled Fred after there chequered flag in Imola.
Mercedes slump in numbers
After seven races last year, Mercedes had scored 152 points despite Fernando Alonso’s six podiums at those events. This year they have just 79 and its now almost impossible for them to make the top three in the constructors’ race this year.
Lewis Hamilton has less than half the points compared to this point of time last season, and with George Russell ahead the pair lie in seventh and eight in the F1 drivers’ championship.
F1 insider: Bottas switch to… ‘almost certain’
Mercedes con Russell with dodgy data
The once mighty Mercedes AMG Formula One team look a shadow of their former selves at last weekends Grand Prix in Imola. Impressive practice sessions on Friday, where the team’s upgrades on the car appeared to give them a step forward proved ultimately to be another false dawn as Lewis Hamilton trailed home some thirty five seconds behind race winner Max Verstappen.
Fred Vasseur quipped he believed Mercedes had made progress when asked after the race, “The Mercedes? They were 28 seconds behind Charles at the end of the race, so yes, I think they got a little bit closer.” Ferrari raised eyebrows when they appointed the Frenchman team boss as the replacement for life long Ferrari employee Matteo Binotto, yet Vasseur is quickly becoming a paddock favourite with his understated manner and his witty dealings with the media…. READ MORE
