Red Bull F1 problems are beginning to look cultural as mass exodus hints at deeper issues

Red Bull F1

Red Bull F1 problems are beginning to look cultural and not technical

The talent drain continues in Milton Keynes

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Monday 11 May 2026 09:12

It is no secret that Red Bull have lost a significant amount of key staff from their F1 operation in recent years, many swapping the navy blue hues of the Austrian company for the papaya of McLaren.

Just three seasons ago, the energy drink giants were exactly that, giants of the F1 paddock. Having won back-to-back constructors' championships in 2022 and 2023, star driver Max Verstappen continued to bring success to the squad with his fourth consecutive drivers' title in 2024.

But the 2025 campaign was when it all became clear just how devastating the loss of chief technical officer Adrian Newey had been.

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What is more concerning however is that ever since Newey's Red Bull exit, the team now run by Laurent Mekies have suffered continuous losses of cornerstone staff, particularly from within their technical departments.

Red Bull suffering from worrying talent drain

Since 2023, Red Bull have lost not just Newey, but also chief engineering officer Rob Marshall, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, head of race strategy Will Courtenay, CEO and team principal Christian Horner, advisor Helmut Marko, chief designer Craig Skinner, and now, head of racing and Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

And that is without even unpacking the whole host of changes within the team's communications department following Horner's sacking.

Many made the decision to move to McLaren, an attractive entity seeing as they were the ones to usurp Red Bull from the top of the constructors' standings in 2024.

But could it be that there is something more going on behind the scenes at the Milton Keynes HQ that has caused major talents to lose faith in their team? Or, did F1 genius Newey simply ignite something in his fellow colleagues that showed them they had more to gain from a switch to Red Bull's rivals?

Tech genius Newey was the first domino to fall at Red Bull

Newey was the first major exit from Red Bull, and his loss was huge. The man who had been instrumental in transforming the outfit from an empty shed in Milton Keynes to a mult championship-winning team was looking for a new challenge, and that was something which seemed to resonate with many of his peers.

Newey announced his Red Bull departure in May 2024, a decision which meant he was forced to take a step back from working on Red Bull's RB21.

As a result, the team's 2025 F1 challenger was the first car in over two decades which Newey had not worked on. Verstappen managed to capitalise on the clumsy errors of McLaren and eventually finished P2 in last year's championship, losing out to Lando Norris by just two points.

But it was the failings of the car in the first half of the season which left the team with a mountain to climb approaching the summer break, and ultimately led to the downfall of Horner.

Horner out as poor performance brings consequences

Oliver Mintzlaff was behind Christian Horner's 2025 Red Bull F1 sacking.

Pressure continued to build around Horner's position at Red Bull after that underwhelming start to 2025, and Verstappen's father Jos continued to butt heads with the team boss.

The performance of the once dominant team dropped rapidly in 2025, and at the time of Horner's abrupt sacking after last year's British Grand Prix, Verstappen appeared to be out of the running for a fifth consecutive title with the team sat way down in fourth in the constructors' standings.

Horner had made history as the youngest team principal in F1 when he joined the new Red Bull squad in 2005. But despite guiding them to eight drivers' titles and six constructors' championships, Oliver Mintzlaff, CEO of Red Bull GmbH, felt the team desperately needed a change.

After Horner's sacking, Mintzlaff gave a rare interview, saying: "You can't keep relying on history, and we felt it was time to turn the page and start a new chapter."

With Horner gone, Marko followed five months later, at times citing Verstappen's inability to claim a fifth drivers' championship last season as the reason for his retirement at the end of 2025.

With Horner gone, Mekies was selected to guide Red Bull into a new era, but after a positive start to his stint as team principal, it now seems as if the honeymoon phase is over.

Can Laurent Mekies rebuild Red Bull?

There is no denying the Frenchman did well to pick up the pieces of Horner's departure and motivate not only Verstappen to get back into the fight last season, but also the rest of the Red Bull garage.

However, with a new championship now under way, the team have suffered even more key staff exits.

In February 2026, it was announced Red Bull had lost their chief designer of 20 years in the form of Craig Skinner.

It was widely reported that the engineer had made the decision to depart the Milton Keynes-based team ahead of the 2026 campaign, having worked closely with the likes of Newey and played a major role in designing Red Bull's impressive RB19.

But Dutch journalist Erik van Haren has now claimed Skinner was shown the door by Red Bull and in fact did not make the decision to leave of his own accord.

Either way, this points to a worrying trend of alleged internal disagreements among Red Bull's ranks which have pushed some of their long-standing employees out the door, and on more than one occasion into the arms of their rivals.

Red Bull's losses are McLaren's gains

Gianpiero Lambiase will join Andrea Stella's McLaren F1 team as chief racing officer, no later than 2028.

The departure of Gianpiero Lambiase is the latest blow to Red Bull, with Verstappen's long-time race engineer and key ally announcing last month that he would be leaving the team and making a move to McLaren by no later than 2028.

In the aftermath of this announcement, McLaren delivered sly digs to their rivals about their ability to snatch up some of their finest talents and coax them away from Red Bull.

Once Lambiase completes his move, he will join former Red Bull stars Marshall and Courtenay at the Woking-based squad, with Andrea Stella's team shaping up to be a Red Bull 2.0 of sorts.

Last time out at the Miami Grand Prix, Mekies addressed the mass staff departures, saying of Lambiase's shock decision: "GP had an extraordinary opportunity... it’s not something that I can do anything else but wish him well".

Kind words from Mekies, but this is worrying to hear from a team principal who continues to lose staff to his rivals by the day. Mekies should be working to retain his key players, not surrendering and admitting, 'there is nothing I can do'.

Speaking to Sky Sports in Miami, the Red Bull boss then smoothed over his statement of surrender, revealing that he would poach staff from rivals as well if needed to keep the team afloat.

But if Mekies had managed to retain an attractive working environment in Milton Keynes or offer appealing promotions to some of their most valuable staff, perhaps this ongoing mass exodus could have been prevented?

The 49-year-old Frenchman has so far managed to keep hold of Red Bull's most prized possession in the form of Verstappen. However, with GP's looming exit and the Dutchman's continued disapproval of the 2026 regulations, only time will tell if Mekies will be able to convince the four-time champion to stay, or if he will be held responsible for the downfall of Red Bull F1. The bleeding may not have stopped just yet.

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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Red Bull Christian Horner Adrian Newey Helmut Marko Gianpiero Lambiase