Red Bull chief 'set to leave' for rival F1 team

Verstappen in deep conversation with chief engineer Monaghan walking through Red Bull F1 garage — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Red Bull chief 'set to leave' for rival F1 team

Could this impact Max Verstappen's future decision?

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Friday 26 June 2026 18:45

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Red Bull could be set to lose yet another key figure from within the ranks of their F1 team, according to a report in British media.

The Milton Keynes-based squad have suffered multiple big name departures over the last couple of years, most notable of which being former chief technical officer Adrian Newey.

The design genius was credited as the mastermind behind the most dominant car in F1 history, the RB19, which won 21 out of 22 races in the 2023 championship in the hands of Max Verstappen and his former team-mate Sergio Perez.

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Verstappen secured an unprecedented number of those victories singlehandedly, winning a record-breaking 19 grands prix before taking his third championship in 2023.

But as Red Bull continue to struggle to convince Verstappen to stay at the team, a R365 report has claimed they could be about to receive another blow as chief engineer Paul Monaghan, also known as 'Pedals', is rumoured to be departing.

GPFans have contacted Red Bull for comment.

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Another blow to Red Bull's technical department?

Since Newey left Red Bull prior to his Aston Martin switch in 2024, the team now run by Laurent Mekies have suffered continuous losses of cornerstone staff, particularly from within their technical departments.

Among the key staff exits are 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 more recently, Verstappen's engineer and head of racing, Gianpiero Lambiase.

And just as Red Bull return home to the Styrian mountains for the Austrian Grand Prix, sources in the Red Bull Ring paddock have confirmed to RacingNews365 that long-serving engineer Paul Monaghan is preparing to leave as well.

Monaghan has been with Red Bull since their official entry to the sport in 2005, but after reportedly receiving offers from teams including Aston Martin, he is understood to be heading to Cadillac, potentially in a leadership role within the engineering department.

The publication have reported that they understand Monaghan is set to leave Red Bull, although due to the formal exit process and the need to serve a period of gardening leave, he is unlikely to begin working for the American squad before the second half of 2027.

Both Red Bull and Cadillac are situated in the UK’s 'Motorsport Valley', meaning the move from Milton Keynes to Cadillac's new Silverstone HQ would hardly present a major shakeup for Monaghan.

Red Bull boss responds to rumours

Following the rumours on Monaghan's future, Laurent Mekies was asked about the situation during Friday's FIA press conference for team bosses, only confirming that Monaghan was continuing to work for the team.

"I don’t think it will be fair for our people through the ranks that I start commenting about these guys. Paul is actually here today," Mekies said.

"He has been working very hard to get our cars out this morning. And as I said, we also made very clear, Mara, that there is nothing more important to us than making sure we are in a position to keep our talents and to attract the ones we need, and that remains the highest priority."

Who is Paul Monaghan?

Monaghan is one of the last remaining senior figures from when ex-team principal Christian Horner was at the helm of the energy drink giants and his exit could signify a changing of the guard at Red Bull.

Due to being a long-term member of Red Bull, Monaghan has played a significant role in both of the team's dominant eras, first with Sebastian Vettel and then with Verstappen, but he began his career with McLaren in 1990 in research and development.

Having then moved worked as the data engineer for David Coulthard, Monaghan made the move to Enstone in 2000 during the team's switch from Benetton to Renault.

It was here he became a race engineer, working with future champions Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso.

The Brit then switched teams again to briefly work for Jordan before settling down at Red Bull, where he has enjoyed the most successful chapter of his career and helped the team to achieve eight drivers' titles and six constructors' championships.

Why do they call Paul Monaghan 'Pedals'?

Monaghan's nickname of 'Pedals' has followed him throughout this career, ever since his early F1 days at McLaren in the 1990s.

It comes from when he worked with Austrian star Gerhard Berger, helping draw and design custom made car pedals for the 10-time grand prix winner who was at the Woking team between 1990 and 1992.

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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