Horner on the new engine project: 'This is where the talent is'
- GPblog.com
For 2022 Red Bull Racing will be working on their own engines. They will do this by setting up the Red Bull Powertrains project. In the last few weeks some big names have been revealed, mainly from the Mercedes camp. Christian Horner understands that important names like Ben Hodgkinson choose to go to Red Bull.
"We are only 30 miles away from Brixworth, where the Mercedes-engine is built. They have done that for a reason. The talent is in the UK. For us, bringing the engines on-site to the campus, fully integrated into the chassis, so engine and chassis-engineers can work side by side with each other, is tremendously appealing," Horner explained to Sky Sports.
Honda talent too
"We’ve been flattered by the amount of approaches we’ve had and of course, we start with a clean sheet. It’s important that we start with the right people in the right positions and obviously we’ve had quite a bit of success in attracting some fantastic talent. On top of the talent we will inherit from Honda when they will depart at the end of the year." So, according to Horner, the Red Bull project also has a lot of potential, despite question marks over competition.
"There were comments that an energy drink company can’t make a chassis and I think we’ve proven that we can do that. Now we have to prove that we can do the same with the engine," Horner stated. Asked if he has discussed with Toto Wolff the fact that Mercedes staff will be working for Red Bull, Horner explains that it has all been fair.
"At the end of the day people want to work where they want to work. You can’t force someone to work for you. And if we are an attractive place to be and people see that racing spirit and want to work for that, they will come on the journey," Horner concludes.