Wolff takes his loss: "The fight for the best people you see everywhere"

The tally of Mercedes employees transferring to Red Bull to develop a completely new engine now stands at six and that doesn't seem to be the end of it. This is also causing tensions between the two teams.

Big promises

After previously appointing Ben Hodgkinson as Technical Director at Red Bull Powertrains, Red Bull today also announced the arrival of Steve Blewett, Omid Mostaghimi, Pip Clode, Anton Mayo and Steve Brodie. All work or have worked for Mercedes.

In Sport24 Auto, Toto Wolff is asked about the resulting tensions between Mercedes and Red Bull, about which the Mercedes team boss is very clear. "It's simple: Red Bull is taking away employees with the promise of a great future. I say: the future is not clear, there are different scenarios."

Battle on and off the track

"It's very normal that there is a struggle off the track. The fight for the best people you see everywhere," continued Wolff who seems to take his loss with that. Wolff is more enthusiastic about the battle on the track. "It's really fun. In recent years we have set the standard, now it's a battle of equals with Red Bull. Of course I'm betting on my driver, but it's definitely close."

According to Wolff, Mercedes and Red Bull each have their own strengths and weaknesses. "The Red Bull still feels like the faster car over one lap. Whereas last time the Hamilton and Mercedes combination was the best over the whole race distance."