Who is Will Courtenay, the Red Bull chief strategist leaving for McLaren?
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Will Courtenay, Head of Race Strategy at Red Bull Racing, is leaving the Austrian Formula One team in mid-2026, and he will be swapping Red Bull's team for McLaren's, becoming their new sporting director. This is the story of the top strategist and his work at the Austrian team.
Who is Will Courtenay?
Will Courtenay started at Red Bull in 2005, joining the Austrian F1 team in their first year in the sport. He was working for Jaguar when the F1 team was acquired by Red Bull in early 2005, and he has stayed with them ever since. He started there as a strategy engineer and worked his way up to the position of senior analyst. In 2010, he was promoted again and appointed Head of Race Strategy, his current role.
In his role, Courtenay works closely with Hannah Schmitz, the current Head Strategy Engineer at Red Bull. The two alternate at the pit wall, with Courtenay at the pit wall during one Grand Prix weekend, and then replaced by Schmitz at another. When they are not on the pit wall, they work from their headquarters at Milton Keynes. Together, Courtenay and Schmitz ensured that Red Bull became a leader in the world of racing strategy.
Will Courtenay swaps Red Bull for McLaren
In September 2024, after the Singapore Grand Prix, McLaren announced that Courtenay would join the Woking-based team in the role of sporting director in 2026. Team boss Andrea Stella said he was delighted with the British team's new hire, calling him a "great addition to McLaren's strong management team". Courtenay will not join the British team straight away, as he will serve out his contract at Red Bull until the end and will continue working for the Austrian team until at least mid-2026.
This article was created in collaboration with Nicole Mulder
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