Verstappen's title-winning Red Bull crew is breaking up: who has gone, who is going and who is still left

Horner was called to a meeting in London the day after the 2025 British Grand Prix where he had been led to believe it was about marketing. Red Bull told him it wanted to go in a different direction, and he had to press before he got any reason at all.

Horner also said he "didn't have the inkling it was going to be dealt with so abruptly." Laurent Mekies, promoted from Racing Bulls, replaced him. By then a lot of the engineering and pit wall staff behind Verstappen's four consecutive drivers' titles had already left, or were about to.

The first big exit came in May 2023. That was when chief engineering officer Rob Marshall's move to McLaren was announced, after 17 years with the team. Adrian Newey, who had overseen the design of Red Bull's cars since 2006, announced in 2024 that he was leaving. He went on to join Aston Martin in 2025.

Sporting director Jonathan Wheatley also announced his exit in 2024 to lead Sauber's switch to Audi, but he left Audi just two rounds into the 2026 season. Head of strategy Will Courtenay joined Marshall at McLaren as sporting director at the end of 2025, and Helmut Marko left the team around the same time.

Chief designer Craig Skinner's departure was announced in February, just before the season began. As GPblog reported in Former Red Bull executive starts at his new F1 team, he starts at Cadillac as Chief Development Engineer on 18 November. Red Bull called his exit a resignation, but De Telegraaf journalist Erik Van Haren later claimed he had been dismissed. Skinner succeeded Newey as chief designer, and Verstappen won three of his titles in cars Skinner helped design.

Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen's race engineer since 2016, is joining McLaren as chief racing officer "no later" than 2028. Zak Brown has hinted that the move could happen as early as 2027. Tom Hart engineered Verstappen in Austin and Brazil and is due to do so again in Las Vegas before he takes over full time. Former Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullough arrives as Red Bull's head of racing in 2027.

High-profile garage mechanic, Calum Nicholas, also left his role with the team for an in-house position away from the race team.

Technical director Pierre Waché is still in charge. He joined in 2013 and has led the technical team since 2018, starting with the RB16B that took Verstappen to his first title in 2021.

Hannah Schmitz was promoted to head of strategy for 2026 after Courtenay left. In April, former chief mechanic Kenny Handkammer claimed she could be next to go, but no move has been announced.

Chief engineer Paul Monaghan, who has been at Red Bull since the end of 2005, was linked with a move to Cadillac, but Red Bull have since confirmed he remains with the team.