Former Red Bull engineers finish gardening leave and are set to begin work with Ferrari

Two former Red Bull Racing engineers have finished their gardening leave and are set to begin working with Ferrari.

One of the two has been identified as David George, an aerodynamics-focused engineer who has also worked in NASCAR, Indycar, and Formula 1 in his career.

George is considered a valuable addition to the team as he is said to have played a role in Honda's recovery with Red Bull after their disastrous time with McLaren. His expertise is said to include power units, aerodynamics, and other mechanical aspects of a car.

While motorsport.com have identified George as one of the engineers, the identity of the other remains under wraps. What is known so far is that the second person is an aerodynamicist who has hedged his bets on Ferrari's resurgence.

These two are the first personnel changes made by the Prancing Horse since Fred Vasseur took charge of the team.

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Red Bull appoint Ferrari's Laurent Mekies as new AlphaTauri team principal

Red Bull Racing's sister team AlphaTauri will have a new team principal starting 2024, with Laurent Mekies set to succeed Franz Tost.

Mekies replaces Tost, who is one of F1’s longest-serving team bosses. His F1 career started in 2000 when he followed Ralf Schumacher to Williams. He then moved to AlphaTauri – then known as Scuderia Toro Rosso – in 2005 and has remained with the team since.

Mekies, who is currently the Assistant Team Principal and Race Director at Ferrari, will make the move from Maranello back to his former team and has previously worked for AlphaTauri. He was their race engineer, chief engineer, and later the head of vehicle performance.

The Frenchman then spent four years as the FIA's Safety Director and Deputy Race Director, before joining Ferrari in 2018. Speaking about his move to AlphaTauri, Mekies, in a statement, said:

"Firstly, I’d like to pay tribute to Franz for the great job he has done over almost two decades in charge at Faenza. I wish him well for the future and I know that both Peter and I will rely on his input and advice in times to come."

He added:

"Looking forward, I am honoured to take on the role of Team Principal and to return to the team where I spent a large portion of my early career. Scuderia AlphaTauri has all of the ingredients necessary for greater success in the future and in tandem with Peter I’m looking forward to making that happen."