Following the departures of Adrian Newey, Dan Fallows and Rob Marshall, as well as Jonathan Wheatley come the end of the 2024 season, Red Bull Racing will also be losing Head of Strategy Will Courtenay to McLaren Racing.
BBC Sport reports that he has a contract at Red Bull Racing until the middle of the 2026 campaign. However, a deal is likely to be negotiated where he can serve a period of gardening leave before he heads to Woking.
Courtenay has been a key cornerstone at Red Bull Racing. The British engineer joined Jaguar in 2003, and he stayed when the energy drinks company took over the Milton Keynes-based squad.
He was appointed Head of Race Strategy in 2010, the year the team won their first Drivers’ Championship with Sebastian Vettel, alongside their maiden Constructors’ Championship as well. The team has gone to win a further six Drivers’ Championships, with five on the Constructors’ side.
They are on course to add another Drivers’ Championship to the collection this year as Max Verstappen leads Lando Norris by 52 points with six races and three sprints remaining.
In recent years, he has shared the role with Hannah Schmitz. Between them, Red Bull has been widely regarded as having the best strategy team on the grid for quite some time now.
According to McLaren, he will be “reporting into Randeep Singh, Racing Director, the role will help grow the team’s sporting operations as the team continues its pursuit of success in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.”
Andrea Stella, Team Principal, McLaren F1, said:
“We are delighted to welcome Will to McLaren. His experience, professionalism and passion for motorsport make him the ideal candidate to lead our F1 sporting function.
“We are now entering a key phase in our journey as a team, and we are confident that he will be a great addition to our strong leadership team as we strive to continue challenging for wins and championships.”
