Christian Horner has dismissed recent reports suggesting that his technical team members are being targeted by rivals Ferrari. The Italian team has reportedly been looking to lure members of the Red Bull team to Italy in order to bolster their own technical capabilities.
Some key figures, such as Pierre Wache and Enrico Balbo, have been at the centre of these rumours, and tech chief Adrian Newey was previously linked before signing a new contract with Red Bull.
Speculation has been fueled by Ferrari’s upcoming contract release deal with Red Bull-backed AlphaTauri team’s Laurent Mekies. Reports suggested that Ferrari might try to include Red Bull engineers as part of the deal.
However, Horner has now quashed these rumours, stating that there are no such plans to lose any of his technical team to Ferrari.
Horner’s statement is likely to put an end to the speculation surrounding Red Bull and Ferrari. With key members of the technical team, including Newey, remaining committed to Red Bull, the team looks set to continue their development of top-class f1 cars for the foreseeable future.
Speaking to the media at the Miami Grand Prix, Horner said: “As usual, there’s plenty of speculation. Will there be a hostage exchange for Laurent Mekies? Well, we don’t have any hostages.”
“So in terms of personnel moving to Ferrari, certainly at a senior or intermediate levels there’s nothing planned.
“Individuals that have been mentioned in connection with Ferrari came to see me last week and mentioned their disbelief in some of these rumours.
“But it’s Formula One, that will inevitably happen, but there’s no plans for any senior members of our team to be joining Maranello.”
