While you'll no doubt have heard of the antics on track, Red Bull and Mercedes are taking their feud a step further. Ever since the surprising announcement that Honda would be leaving F1, Red Bull were in charge of developing an entire engine facility within the next year. Part of that journey includes staffing. In order to build the best engine, you need the best people. Honda showed the world this in 2016, and Alonso was quick to chime in about it. So, like any portion of the car, the personnel you have behind it matters.
Red Bull have no doubt felt slighted by the fact that they haven't won a title in 7 years. In all honesty, with the resources they have, it's been a terrible 7 years for them. In that time they've finished, 2nd, 4th, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd and 2nd. They've been outside the top two as much as they've been in it. Unlike Mercedes, Ferrari, or Alpine, the engineering staff has largely stayed the same.
Cue the decision from Honda. All of a sudden, Red Bull are posed with a choice. Do they return to the tumultuous relationship they had with Renault just three season prior? Or do they invest an extra £100 Million+ more in order to build their own facilities. Making that decision must have been difficult, but with the backing of the Red Bull brand, they got the go-ahead to start their own engine manufacturing wing.
This is where things get heated. Despite the many Honda engineers that worked on the engine now not having a job in F1, almost all of them chose to stay in Japan. This means, they have a factory to fill, and no one to fill it with. When that happens, the one place to look for new talent is around you. Ferrari engineers are likely too proud (to a degree), and their recent reputation had been tarnished. When Red Bull were searching, they were only searching up.
One of the confusing parts of F1, is where all the money goes. Once you see a £4-million dollar car hit the barrier, you might think 'ah, that where their money goes'. But, actually, their staff represent a more costly division of the teams budget than the car itself. The people making the car are worth a-lot more, because without them, well... you wouldn't have the car itself.
This being said, Red Bull decided to pull off a heist. Red Bull challenged Mercedes by attempting to poach 100 of their engineers. It's a number that barely even sounds real. To most casual fans, they may not even have known there were 100 engineers in the engine department. That being said, Mercedes were not going to take this intrusion lightly. According to Toto Wolff, they offered heir staff double of what they previously earned.
This might lead you to believe they all stayed. However, in the heat of the moment, Red Bull allegedly committed three or more times their salary to certain individuals. Needless to say, this was the straw that broke the camel's back. Of the initial 100 offered a position at Red bull, 15 hopped ship. This represented.a massive poaching of talent, not previously seen for a long time. For context, Ferrari and McLaren used to swap engineers all the time. It was certainly frowned upon by the teams, but once they got the guy or gal they wanted, they weren't too concerned with how it affected their rivals.
So in all this, the rivalry off-track is heating up. 2022 will prove to be one of the most consequential years in modern F1 history. With the firepower previously owned by Mercedes, will Red Bull own the next 7 years? Hopefully, at the very least, there will be some variety in the next decade of champions. Overall though, Red Bull and Mercedes are lining up to be the dominant forces once again.
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