Christian Horner blocked Ferrari from poaching ‘dream’ signing from Red Bull

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While there has been a lot of activity in the Formula 1 driver market in 2024, there has equally been a lot of backroom staff moving around.

The highest profile of these has been Adrian Newey, who in May announced he would be leaving Red Bull after 18 years. The 65-year-old Newey is now reportedly set to take up an offer from Aston Martin on a multi-million-pound contract.

Newey was originally meant to move to Ferrari but he is rumoured to have wanted to bring 20 engineers with him, and along with wanting more control over their car project than Ferrari was willing to offer, they elected not to pursue a move that would have linked the most successful car designer with seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

Outside of Newey’s move, there are several other personnel exchanges, notably with Ferrari man Enrico Cardile moving to Aston Martin after a meeting with team owner Lawrence Stroll.

Mercedes and Ferrari will also see Loic Serra arrive as their technical director. Serra previously held the role of performance director at Mercedes but is set to make the move to Maranello, after the team was unable to lure Pierre Wache away from Red Bull according to a report by Formu1a.uno.

Christian Horner blocked Pierre Wache from Ferrari move

The report claims that Wache was pursued by Ferrari in favour of Serra in what was said to be the ‘dream’ signing for Maranello.

However, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner vetoed any move from taking place and he is instead set to stay at the Milton Keynes outfit.

Wache is part of Red Bull’s inner success circle and the team has already lost a key member in the form of Rob Marshall, who former F1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer believes carried over the ‘secret sauce’ when he switched to McLaren.

The two French engineers Wache and Serra have effectively done the same career path, with both starting at Michelin when they were a tyre supplier in F1, then BMW Sauber, before separating between top teams Red Bull and Mercedes.

Why is there a lot of movement of background staff in F1?

The F1 paddock is a tight-knit community and the end-product is subject to scrutiny nearly every fortnight from rival teams.

It is the reason why a lot of teams tend not to boast about the accomplishments of certain individuals, instead defaulting to a team leader such as Newey or James Allison as Mercedes, because it could open up to getting poached by other teams.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

The F1 budget cap is now also a consideration when offering engineers premium salaries. Whereas teams such as Ferrari could overcome barriers such as relocation to Italy with premium salaries, they are no longer able to afford this because the cost cap affects salaries.

In addition to the new rules coming into play in 2026 whereby F1 will see the introduction of new cars and power units, it means various projects are becoming attractive for engineers.