Why contracting a Red Bull Chief Mechanic is a statement by Audi

At first glance, it does not seem like a transfer that should generate huge headlines. After all, Lee Stevenson was 'only' Chief Mechanic at Red Bull Racing. The Brit was no Adrian Newey (chief designer), no Pierre Waché (technical director) or Gianpiero Lambiase (Max Verstappen's race engineer) at the Austrian team. That Stevenson is seeking refuge elsewhere after 18 years is anything but strange. It seems he has the desire to achieve something different after all those years. However, the fact that he chose Sauber/Stake F1 - soon to be Audi - is a statement from the German manufacturer.

Within Max Verstappen's Red Bull team, Stevenson was a familiar face, even after he decided in late 2020 to trade his job as chief mechanic on the Dutchman's car for a small step back. The fact that Red Bull Racing will miss him seems a certainty, given his vast experience and popularity among his colleagues. Next Monday, Stevenson begins a new adventure with a team far from Grand Prix victories.

Supporting Bottas and Zhou

Once the Japanese Grand Prix kicks off in just over a week, Stevenson will no longer support Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez but Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou. Instead of celebrating a victory, a single-point score would already lead to scenes of joy at Stake F1 - a team currently not making much of an impression. For instance, Stake F1 saw an excellent result go to waste in all three races in '24, as a wheel nut went haywire each time.

At Audi's offices in Ingolstadt, Germany, the results from Stake F1 are probably being viewed with the necessary annoyance at the moment. From 2026, Stake F1 will officially be the Audi F1 Team, and the Germans do not want a supporting role in Formula 1 with their factory team. Audi come to Formula 1 to win. However, it takes time for an underperforming team to transform into one that competes for podium spots - let alone wins and championships.

Audi pulling the strings

It is in this light that Audi recently announced that it was taking over Sauber completely and is already taking the necessary steps internally - under the name Stake F1 - to be in a better position by 2026 than it would be if everything was left to run its course for another 18 months. A key part of the internal revolution is attracting better staff. Sauber always wanted that, but the fact is that many of the best F1 people are British and have their lives in Britain. Moving your whole life towards Swiss Hinwil - where Sauber's factory is located- has often proved not to be an attractive prospect.

For Audi, Stevenson's experience is worth its weight in gold. So now he is making the move to Switzerland, no doubt for a nice fee. Pulling out the wallet is a sign that Audi really means business (which was doubted by some not long ago). Stevenson is undoubtedly not the last person to move to Audi for their new adventure. The Germans are on the hunt and plan to pluck more highly qualified people from elsewhere.

So contracting Stevenson may be taken as a statement towards the competition: after all, Audi is determined to succeed in Formula 1.