Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has urged Christian Horner to “work on the maths” amid his Red Bull counterpart’s claim it has poached 220 staff from its Formula 1 rivals.
The announcement earlier this month that design legend Adrian Newey will depart Red Bull in 2025 triggered McLaren CEO Zak Brown to predict that more will leave.
Brown divulged McLaren had received increased applications from Red Bull members over recent times, with Wolff concurring with the American’s words when asked.
However, Horner struck back at those comments as he avouched that Red Bull’s Powertrains division has attracted 220 members from Mercedes’ engine department.
Speaking post-race at Imola, the hostilities between the pair took another twist as Wolff insisted that turnovers are inevitable and Horner had inflated the true number.
“You’ve got to work on the maths. 19 engineers,” Wolff responded when asked whether he was concerned with Horner’s assertion over people switching to Red Bull.
“And so, you know, whatever those numbers are, I think there is a natural fluctuation between teams that come and go, which is completely normal.
“We have an engine department that is as good as it can be, with a top leadership.
“There is not a millimetre in HPP that should be different in terms of organisational set-up, in terms of the people that works there that I’m lucky to interact with.
“It’s a perfect organisation, they have delivered for a long time, since 2014 we have been the benchmark, with maybe another engine the benchmark, that hasn’t changed.
“I really can’t wait for 2026 [and the new regulations] to come and see the different levels of performance of the power unit.”
Ferrari has hired Loic Serra and Jerome d’Ambrosio from Mercedes to begin in October, while reports have slated that the team’s Chief Aerodynamicist has departed.
But having said Mercedes is also hiring from elsewhere, Wolff hinted that the squad is entering a new era as it bids to overcome the shortcomings under this ruleset.
“Yeah if I look at two years ago this was horrendous,” Wolff conceded. “Yeah, I’m not particularly proud or happy of the time from back in the day to today.
“We could have done things differently and better, spotted things earlier, and optimised in the organisation, and we didn’t. Where we are at the moment in this direction is correct.”
