Adversity for Verstappen and Red Bull: chief mechanic leaves immediately
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Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen are saying goodbye to Lee Stevenson. The chief mechanic has decided to seek refuge elsewhere after 18 years. Stevenson moves to 'the other side of the pit lane'
Stevenson announced his departure via Instagram. He has finished his last day there. From Monday, he will start at another Formula 1 team, whose name he does not explicitly mention but states is at the other end of the pit lane.
GPblog has since learned which team he will be moving to. There, he will be active immediately next weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix. So for Stevenson, after nearly 20 years of service, there is no period of 'gardening leave', in which he has to spend a certain period of time compulsorily sitting at home before making the switch to a competitor.
Stevenson was currently the chief mechanic at Red Bull - where he worked his way up considerably. When he came over from Jordan in 2006, he was appointed second mechanic. From 2014, he performed the role of first mechanic and he thus ended his adventure at the Milton Keynes-based team as chief mechanic.
Stevenson says goodbye to fans
"Hi everyone, hope you're doing well. Hope you're having a good day. Just thought I'd hop on here just to let you all know that you won't be seeing any more posts from me, from Red Bull, because today's my last day. So it's been an amazing 18 years and all the things that I've managed to achieve here with the team has just been absolutely incredible," he said on Instagram.
"Working on the first car over here, which is the RB2, then the RB16B, and then obviously the RB19. It's been an incredible journey. I just want to say thanks for everyone here. It's been an amazing time that I've had here. In 2006 when I started, I never thought we'd win races, get poles, win championships, but we've managed to do all of that. It's just been amazing. On to the next chapter. That chapter starts on Monday when I fly to Japan to start work with my new team at the other end of the pit lane, it's going to be a massive challenge, but one that I'm ready for," he concluded.
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