How Red Bull have privately reacted to losing Will Courtenay to championship rivals McLaren

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Red Bull have lost another big name after strategy chief Will Courtenay agreed to join McLaren. Courtenay has been with the team since they entered F1 back in 2005.

He’ll take the sporting director role at McLaren, serving under racing director Randeep Singh. He’s still under contract until 2026, but his new team may hope to negotiate an earlier arrival.

Courtenay will reunite with two former Red Bull engineers in Rob Marshall and Peter Prodromou. He arrives in Woking with six constructors’ titles under his belt.

He won four of those in the Sebastian Vettel era between 2010 and 2013. And led by Max Verstappen, Red Bull will still hope to make it three in a row this year.

Christian Horner has already lost his own sporting director Jonathan Wheatley this year. Wheatley is to join Audi as team principal in the summer of 2025, though he’s carrying out his current role until the end of the season.

And perhaps more significantly, legendary designer Adrian Newey handed in his resignation in the spring. Aston Martin unveiled Newey at their Silverstone HQ earlier this month.

Red Bull are taking the loss of Will Courtney to McLaren hard

While Wheatley has been instrumental in Red Bull’s recent success, particularly when it comes to their standard-setting pit stops, his chosen destination softens the blow. Sauber/Audi are currently bottom of the constructors’ championship, anything but a threat to Red Bull.

Newey’s new team Aston Martin are somewhere in between. They hope to be challenging for titles following the 2026 regulation changes but at the moment they’re a rather anonymous midfield outfit.

McLaren, on the other hand, are Red Bull’s biggest rivals at present. They’ve recently knocked them off the top of the constructors’ table.

That may be why, according to The Race, the world champions are ‘hurting’ following Tuesday’s announcement. Courtenay is a major loss in his own right, but he’ll also significantly strengthen the McLaren operation.

Red Bull feared this was coming after Adrian Newey exit

Red Bull have won seven races this year – more than any other team – and they’re still the clear favourites to win the drivers’ title through Verstappen. But that hasn’t put an end to the persistent instability behind the scenes.

Horner engaged in a power struggle with Helmut Marko, the executive director who heads up the driver academy. While he survived and consolidated his position, it rocked several big names within the team.

Indeed, it emerged after Newey’s exit that more senior Red Bull figures were considering their future. Courtenay may well have been one of them.

The team who enjoyed one of the most dominant two-year runs in F1 history has suddenly descended into uncertainty. Verstappen’s commitment is in doubt, the absence of Newey may already be taking its toll and they’re entering new territory for 2026 as they build their own power unit.