“9 other teams figured out that I'm absolutely useless”: Red Bull engineer’s cryptic response when asked why he was still at the team

Red Bull's chief engineer Paul Monaghan hilariously replied on why other teams have not tried to hire him yet. He also thanked Christian Horner for the job.

Paul Monaghan's journey in motorsport started with McLaren F1 in 1990, where he worked in the R&D (research and development) department. He later worked as a data engineer for former F1 driver, David Coulthard.

He then moved to Benetton in 2000, during which the team was gradually transitioning into Renault. He worked as a performance engineer and then a race engineer for Jenson Button.

Monaghan then jumped to the Jordan GP F1 team, before eventually joining Red Bull in 2005. Ever since then, he has remained with the team, initially working as a head of engineering and then shifting into the role of chief engineer. He is one of the very few engineers who have continued their journey with the Austrian team ever since the team was created.

In an exclusive interview with GPBlog, he was asked why he was still working at Red Bull. To this, he hilariously replied that the other nine teams might have concluded that he was completely useless. He further joked that the role of chief engineer was only a charity from team boss Christian Horner.

"No one else will employ me, perhaps. Nine other teams have figured out that I'm absolutely useless. And this is a charitable role from Christian (Horner). So I don't know," Monaghan said.

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Paul Monaghan on why he continued to stay at Red Bull as a chief engineer

On a more serious note, Paul Monaghan explained why he stuck with Red Bull and expressed his excitement for the team's future. In the same interview with GPBlog, he said that he liked the team's environment and passion to move forward.

"I like it. Overall, it's a nice environment to be in. We're exceptionally lucky. If you look, we're well-funded. As a philosophy, Red Bull seems to do things well if it's going to do it. And that's a wonderful environment to be in," Monaghan said.

He also touched on the subject of the team planning to develop their own power units from 2026, becoming one of the very few works teams on the grid.

"If you look at what this team is now committing to this sport, a new engine, and we're in. We're one of three teams that make their own engine within their own environment. We will become one of the three. Four with Alpine as well," he added.

The Austrian outfit currently leads the 2024 F1 constructors' championship with 276 points. They are closely chased by second-placed Ferrari with 252 points. McLaren is currently in third place with 184 points.