Former Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell hasn’t signed a deal to join rival Red Bull, according to team boss Christian Horner.
Several outlets have run stories claiming Cowell, who left his position at Mercedes High Performance Powertrains last year after 16 years of service, has signed a deal to head up Red Bull’s new powertrains department.
Red Bull has already poached several high ranking employees from its Anglo-German rival, but Horner insists Cowell is not one of them.
“Obviously there’s a lot of media traction on these topics with personnel joining this new venture but I can say I was surprised to read this story this morning that apparently Andy has agreed to join us because that isn’t the case.”
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has repeatedly denied Cowell is joining Red Bull, but admitted there’s nothing stopping him from doing so.
“I speak to Andy every week about different things and for me it doesn’t seem that he is going to Red Bull. But in this sport we have seen many black swans, so at the moment, what I think is he’s not going there.
“It would be a big surprise [if he joined Red Bull] because it would mean it’s different to what we have discussed but there is nothing stopping him from taking any decision, whether he continues on his entrepreneurial journey or returns to Formula 1 in a different role.”
