Former Team Boss Accuses McLaren Engineer of Stealing Red Bull Ideas

Alex Harrington | Aug 17, 2024

May 4, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; McLaren driver Oscar Piastri (81) during the F1 Sprint Race at Miami International Autodrome. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Otmar Szafnauer, the former team boss of Force India, Racing Point, and Alpine, has recently questioned Rob Marshall, a recent addition to McLaren's tech team, suggesting that the engineer might have taken technical secrets from Red Bull Racing, potentially boosting McLaren's performance.

The intrigue centers around Rob Marshall, who, after a 17-year tenure at Red Bull Racing where he worked closely with Adrian Newey, joined McLaren Racing's F1 Technical Executive team in January 2024. During his time at Red Bull, Marshall was instrumental in the team's multiple championship successes, contributing heavily to technological advances that gave drivers like Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel a decisive edge.

This story has emerged after McLaren's noticeable performance improvement, which coincided with Marshall’s move to the team. Szafnauer pointedly accused Marshall of possibly sharing critical strategies and designs with McLaren, which could explain the team's enhanced aerodynamic performance. The focus is particularly on an innovative anti-dive, anti-squat suspension setup that played a significant role in Red Bull's dominance during the 2023 Formula 1 season—a season that saw Verstappen capture a third successive World Championship.

Szafnauer expressed his suspicion clearly:

“It’s definitely possible for one person to come in and say: ‘The secret sauce at Red Bull was this, you should be looking in this direction. That’s definitely possible.

“When you hear things like the aero performance is unlocked through some mechanical design elements of the car – and you know what those are and how those mechanical design elements actually unlock the performance – you can point that team in that direction to start looking here.”

He further highlighted the influence of an individual in spearheading technological shifts:

“It’s that direction that you then start looking in and find performance. Absolutely one person can make that difference, especially when you have a massive rule change like we’ve had.”

He continued:

“We’re now into ground-effect cars where we weren’t before and if there was some mechanical elements of the car that others didn’t have, then it can happen,” he concluded, “I’m not saying that’s what it was, but I do think that there’s performance to be had in that area that isn’t pure aerodynamics, but is an aero enabler."

McLaren, for its part, hailed the hiring of Marshall as a critical step in lifting the team towards the front of the grid, suggesting that his knowledge and experience are invaluable to their competitive strategy.