“Andy is a tremendously talented engineer” – Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has confirmed if Andy Cowell will join Ben Hodgkinson at Red Bull Powertrains.
Red Bull signaled a major statement of intent – and pulled off a major coup – by signing Mercedes Head of Engineering Ben Hodgkinson as the Technical Director of Red Bull Powertrains.
Hodgkinson follows Andy Cowell out of the ultra-successful Mercedes F1 team. Cowell, as the managing director at Mercedes AMG High-Performance Powertrains, was a key figure in Mercedes’ unprecedented dominance in F1, which continues to this day.
Since Cowell announced his departure, speculation has been rife that Ferrari and/or Red Bull will lure him in. Well, the latter has just ruled it out, with Horner confirming that Cowell is only interested in non-motorsports projects, for now.
“Andy is a tremendously talented engineer, I think everything he’s achieved in Formula 1 speaks for itself. But Andy is keen to pursue other activities, other ventures. Obviously, that’s his priority at this point in time.
“But we are attracting some great talent and looking forward to making some announcements in due course as we build this venture.”
“(Red Bull Powertrains is) probably the biggest investment Red Bull have made in Formula 1 since acquiring the team from Jaguar back in 2004. It gives a chance to fully integrate the powertrain into the chassis side of the business as well.
“Other than Ferrari, the only team to have engine and chassis all produced, manufactured, designed under one roof.”
