With the recent announcement of top engineer Rob Marshall’s departure to McLaren, Red Bull chief Christian
Horner admits that maintaining workers within financial constraints can be challenging.
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Christian Horner claims that the cost cap has made it more difficult for Formula One teams to retain employees,
given the recent revelation of Rob Marshall’s departure from Red Bull.
Marshall, who has been a part of the Milton Keynes squad’s ‘inner circle’ since 2006, was confirmed in May to join
McLaren as Technical Director, Engineering and Design in January 2024.
When asked if the budget cap was making it difficult for Red Bull to retain employees, Horner told reporters,
including RacingNews365.com, “Of course.
“You can’t carry everybody on the squad, and I believe that everyone needs to earn their spot in the camp.
“Rob has been focused on other projects in recent years, and McLaren’s offer is probably half of their budget!
When RacingNews365.com asked Horner if the movement of technical staff between teams could result in a’salary
spiral’, he said: “You have to make sure it’s not a race to the bottom.
“The issue is that you have long-standing staff who have made important contributions and do not want to be forced
out of their positions due to the cap.
“Just because you can rationalize ten young people vs one experienced [one], and that is your continual lure.
“We have had redundancies throughout the cap. Jayne Poole [former COO, now a special advisor for Mercedes] was one of them as well. She was a redundancy we created since we couldn’t justify the function within the budget.”
