Red Bull Racing appointed Ben Hodgkinson as the new technical director of Red Bull Powertrains on Friday afternoon. The news comes in the wake of the new division the team set up after acquiring the intellectual rights to the Honda engines.
Hodgkinson's switch is significant because he comes over from rival Mercedes. He has been instrumental in the performance of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas' team in recent years, which has won a string of world championships in succession. Despite securing an excellent place at Mercedes, he was unable to resist the lure of Red Bull Racing. It is undoubtedly a heavy disappointment for Mercedes.
The Austrian racing team is busy preparing for the coming years, in which the team will have its own engine at its disposal. To make that switch as smooth as possible, Red Bull decided to set up a new division, known as Red Bull Powertrains. Red Bull is doing everything possible to ensure that the conditions for next season are as good as possible.
Construction in Milton Keynes
The builders are hard at work in Milton Keynes to create the new factory. It is as of yet unknown when the construction of the factory will be completed. This is expected to have an effect on Hodgkinson's transfer because logically he will only start at Red Bull when the factory is actually built. Moreover, Hodgkinson still has a contract until the end of 2022.