Red Bull Racing continues to weaken with the announced departure of senior mechanic Ole Schack just a few weeks after that of chief designer Craig Skinner, but that’s part of the game…
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Even if this loss is not on the scale of figures like Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley or Will Courtenay, it remains worrying and is part of a context of increasing instability, often linked to uncertainties surrounding the future of Max Verstappen.
Last season marked the end of the historic Christian Horner/Helmut Marko duo, with the departure of the former in July and the latter at the end of the year.
A deteriorating atmosphere
According to F1-Insider, Schack – present for over 20 years and a founding member since the takeover of Jaguar – reportedly resigned due to a “change in the working atmosphere”. A strong signal, suggesting that the atmosphere within the Red Bull garage threatens to deteriorate.
His departure comes as Laurent Mekies, Horner’s successor, sees his team experience a difficult start to the 2026 season. After three races, Red Bull has only 16 points and occupies sixth place, tied with Alpine, without yet having achieved a single double points finish.
A worrying talent drain
Schack, former lead mechanic for Sebastian Vettel and recently in charge of the front of Verstappen’s car, is not an isolated case. Matt Caller, head of mechanics on Verstappen’s side, recently left the team to join Audi. Added to this are numerous departures in the marketing and communication departments, notably Oliver Hughesand Paul Smith, as well as several other executives in early 2026.
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On the technical side, Michael Manning, a key engineer for Verstappen, left at the end of 2025, while Tom Hart will soon join Williams Racing.
The only note of stability: Gianpiero Lambiase has chosen to stay, despite an opportunity to become team principal at Aston Martin F1.
A team in transition
While this type of rotation can exist in any organization and is part of a fairly common staff turnover in F1 given the demands of the calendar, its current scale reinforces the impression of a profound change at Red Bull.
Compared to its dominance between 2021 and 2024, the team appears transformed today and this instability could well fuel Verstappen’s dissatisfaction.
In such a shifting context, every additional departure reinforces a central question: is Red Bull losing the foundations of its success or is it simply a natural evolution, against a backdrop of generational change?
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