Red Bull architect behind Verstappen’s titles nears move to Cadillac

After the outwardly unexpected dismissal of team principal Graeme Lowdon and the hiring of Marcin Budkowski as his successor, the American team is trying to further bolster its young organization. In doing so, the team is aiming very high.

It has already leaked that Paul Monaghan, currently chief engineer for car engineering at Red Bull, is in talks with Cadillac for a senior role. In recent days, reports have appeared that Monaghan has decided to stay with the Austrians, but according to information from GPblog, there was another meeting this weekend in Zandvoort between Cadillac and Monaghan.

Cadillac is also trying to secure Craig Skinner. He spent no less than twenty years at Red Bull Racing, serving in recent years first as Chief Aerodynamicist and most recently as Chief Designer. In that latter role, he succeeded Adrian Newey at Verstappen’s team. Thanks to Skinner’s cars, the Dutchman was able to celebrate three individual world titles.

At the start of this calendar year, the collaboration between Skinner and Red Bull came to an abrupt end. The full reason why the two parties split has never been made public. In any case, Skinner is currently serving a mandatory gardening leave.

Once that is over, he can get to work at Cadillac, GPblog understands from various sources in the paddock. Alpine also courted his services, but the Briton is said to prefer Cadillac as his new employer.

For Cadillac, that would be a huge coup; bringing in a designer who dominated Formula 1 with Red Bull for years. If a partnership does indeed materialize, it would further underscore the ambition of the American team.