Toto Wolff: Red Bull fetched 15 Mercedes’ staff for engine project; having approached 100


Toto Wolff: Red Bull fetched 15 Mercedes’ staff for engine project; having approached 100

Toto Wolff and Helmut Marko

Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff has been very critical of Red Bull’s strategy and weaknesses in the 2021 season. Not only Wolff has been critical, but he has been ensuring that Mercedes are able to maintain their rank on the top. Moreover, he made an interesting revelation about Red Bull trying to acquire Mercedes’ staff ahead of the Spanish GP. 

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Recently, Red Bull revealed Silver Arrows HPP’s Head of Mechanical Engineering Ben Hodgkinson would become Red Bull Powertrains’ new Technical Director ahead of the Spanish GP. 

Not only that, Red Bull followed that up by announcing five more ex-Mercedes recruits. 

Toto Wolff reveals Red Bull only managing to get 15 team staff for an engine project out of 100 they had approached

Toto Wolff
Toto Wolff

The Mercedes’ CEO, Toto Wolff said, “I think they have, in all, approached 100 people or so and they got 15, maybe, and doubling the salaries is one thing but if you triple them, at some stage you’re not going to be able to compete anymore, even for loyal people. It is what it is. I respect everybody that wants to defend or build his business and retaliation time has not yet come,” 

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Asked in Spain whether Red Bull’s efforts to employ Mercedes staff frustrated him, Wolff replied: “No, I think it’s pretty obvious [that] if you want to set up an engine factory in the UK, there is only one and that’s us. 

“We have 900 or so employees there and if you’re fishing out 15 of these or so, it’s really normal. But they went mainly after manufacturing staff, so I guess it’s not performance; they want to build up the company. 

But credit to the project, it’s a Mount Everest to climb and I’d like to have a fight with Red Bull power units,” Toto Wolff concluded. 

Also read: Aston Martin’s F1 Upgrades are better than anyone’s as per Sebastian…

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