Formula One remains in a state of transition since the arrival of the FIA financial regulations designed to level the playing field. A number of the larger teams were forced to shed employees to meet the annual cost cap, while smaller teams now financed better were recruiting and building their organisations.

Yet in recent years the number of ‘known’ paddock figures moving from one team to another appears to have increased in frequency. This year’s news has been dominated by Adrian Newey quitting Red Bull where he has spent the large part of his F1 career, yet a number of other notable senior F1 paddock folk have been on the move.

James Vowles was expected to be the man in situe to replace Toto Wolff when the Austrian decides to hang up his headphones, yet when Williams came calling for a team principal James grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

 

 

 

Any Cowell: “One of F1 history’s great engineers”

Jonathan Wheatley, Red Bull’s sporting director in recent weeks has followed suit having been poached by Mattia Binotto as team principal for the fledging Audi F1 team.

Andy Cowell, considered by many as the genius behind the all conquering Mercedes V6 turbo hybrid power unit also quit Mercedes only to be announced by Aston Martin as their new Group CEO.

Senior F1 writer Mark Hughes recognises Cowell as one of F1’s unsung heroes. “Andy Cowell, is already one of F1 history’s great engineers. His was the brain behind three landmark engines. The 1999 Cosworth CR-1 which moved F1 technology to a new level in its combination of lightness, integration of systems and possible engine speed. 

“The 2001 BMW P81 incorporated the combustion lessons of the Cosworth and combined it with a new level of mechanical tolerances to achieve an initial enormous power advantage over the competition. In its early 2001 form in the back of the Williams it was believed to be delivering around 40bhp more than anyone else. The 2014 Mercedes PU106 hybrid was truly dominant – and the foundation for many years of dominance.”

Renault admit FIA decision killed their F1 engine programme

 

 

 

Aston Martin huge investment

With the front of the grid converging in terms of performance this has created more opportunities for senior figures to move from team to team without sacrificing a career with a top outfit to move to an ‘also ran.’ And with Aston Martin’s multi-hundred million dollar investment in new facilities, it will soon be a front five teams operating in F1.

Yet it wasn’t always this way as ex-Aston Martin [then Force India] team boss Otmar Szafnaeur now reveals Toto Wolff’s incredulity when he discovered a senior Red Bull engineer was leaving the team but not for Mercedes.

The Romanian-American tells the high performance podcast: “We were 280 people when I started, 408 when I left. So I hired some people. All of them, I hired personally. Together, we assessed areas of competency that a Formula 1 team required that we didn’t have. Then we went out to recruit the best people that we could in those areas.”

Force India were a favourite with the fans for their plucky operation which was based outside the gates of the Silverstone circuit in Northampton. The team whilst persistently lacking in funds would deliver good looking cars together with the occasional podium though in this guise and over 203 F1 entries the team never won a Grand Prix.

Steiner denies Schumacher accusations

 

 

 

Wolff SHOCKED 

Notable drivers for Force India/Racing Point were Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez, who was picked up by Red Bull in 2021 when the Silverstone team replaced the Mexican with Sebastian Vettel.

Szafnaeur discusses how a smaller team like Force India/Racing Point attempts two attract those from more competitive teams. “How do you get good people to leave Red Bull and come to Force India? You’ve got to make it a good place to work. 

“I called Toto and I don’t know what we were talking about but I said ‘we’ve got this senior aerodynamicist guru coming from Red Bull to join us’. And he was like ‘what? Why is he not coming to Mercedes?’”

The ex-F1 boss reveals how Toto Wolff used to pace up and down in the pit lane to see who had the smartest garage setup which at the time was Red Bull Racing.

Wolff admits Antonelli F1 debut a flop

 

 

 

Toto demands best garage

“And he would say to his sporting director, Ron Meadows, I want something better than that. Which is great. And he did that. And that translates into a lot of other things too,” Szafnaeur adds. 

“But like I said, the one thing that I wanted, at Force India, because I knew we didn’t have the money to do those things; even if we wanted a better garage, you can’t, is a good place to work, and that was our differentiating factor.”

Speaking about Wolff, Otmar reveals his surprise: ”He couldn’t believe that a guy from Red Bull at a senior level would actually entertain going to Force India, but that’s because we had a reputation of, go there, it’s a good place to work’.”

Verstappen cites ‘problem’ in private

 

 

 

Aston Martin now poised

Aston Martin had a great start to the 2023 season with Fernando Alonso taking six podiums in the first seven races. The Silverstone team for the first third of the year were ahead of Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes in their challenge of Red Bull, yet like the world champions they suffered from having a driver as good as Alonso paired with one by the name of Lawrence Stroll.

Wolff now with more experience under his belt and a number of years where his own team has been in the wilderness, has now suffered the ignominy of his customer team McLaren acing their car design and leading the world constructors’ championship whist powered by a Mercedes power unit.

Further losing Andy Cowell to Aston Martin is a genuine blow as Mercedes attempt to repeat the coup they delivered on the introduction in 2014 of the V6 turbo hybrid power units. Cowell will be the crucial link man between Honda and Aston Martin as the Silverstone outfit attempt to muscle their way to the front of the F1 pack.

And of course they have also procured the services of Adrian Newey – not Mercedes.

Paris Saint-Germain fate – a warning to Aston Martin says…

 

 

 

Marko finally spills the beans over Red Bull “love triangle”

Red Bull Racing came into the 2024 Formula One season on the highest of highs. Their incessant record breaking almost week in and week out appeared set to continue as Max Verstappen claimed pole in Bahrain by a quarter of a second from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

The world champion went on to claim the opening Grand Prix by what remains the largest winning margin still this season. With Perez making it a 1-2, it seemed to most that the Red Bull juggernaut was rolling along where it left off in 2023,

Yet some ‘not so behind the scenes’ trouble was brewing in Milton Keynes as Christian Horner stood accused of “inappropriate behaviour” by a female employee. The expected paddock uproar ensued with the likes of Zak Brown calling for “transparency.”…. READ MORE