Ben Hodgkinson moves to Red bull from Mercedes

[Deleted member 651465]

https://www.racefans.net/2021/04/23...head-of-engineering-to-work-on-f1-power-unit/

Red Bull’s newly-formed Formula 1 power unit division, Red Bull Powertrains, has announced a key hiring from rivals Mercedes.

Ben Hodgkinson will join Red Bull Powertrains as technical director after completing his current contract as head of engineering at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Powertrains. He has spent over two decades with the manufacturer, which has swept both F1 world championship titles for the last seven years.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Hodgkinson “comes to this hugely exciting project as a proven race winner and as an innovator capable of leading a like-minded team of highly skilled engineers.”

The new Red Bull Powertrains division is being constructed at the team’s headquarters in Milton Keynes, a short distance from Mercedes’ engine facility at Brixworth. It will take over the maintenance and production of the team’s Honda power units after the manufacturer leaves F1 at the end of this year.

Considering how much improved the Honda engine is and how much experience this guy brings, that's got to be one hell of a hiring

 

[MissChief]

https://www.racefans.net/2021/04/23...head-of-engineering-to-work-on-f1-power-unit/



Considering how much improved the Honda engine is and how much experience this guy brings, that's got to be one hell of a hiring

Doubled his money most likely, and didn’t Horner want a power unit freeze from the end of this season? He’s going to have to go some to make any difference considering he’s likely going to be out on gardening leave immediately by MB and could even be unable to start work for six months or more.

 

[this_is_gav]

Doubled his money most likely, and didn’t Horner want a power unit freeze from the end of this season? He’s going to have to go some to make any difference considering he’s likely going to be out on gardening leave immediately by MB and could even be unable to start work for six months or more.

End of 2022 according to Tobi Grüner:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1385572737675059207

The theory is Red Bull look certain to be making their own 2025 engine and this hiring is for those upcoming regulations. It doesn't rule out that they're not going to get together with a manufacturer (including Honda) and hiring personnel ready for them, but all the signs point to Red Bull themselves making a PU for the next regs.

 

[MissChief]

End of 2022 according to Tobi Grüner:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1385572737675059207

The theory is Red Bull look certain to be making their own 2025 engine and this hiring is for those upcoming regulations. It doesn't rule out that they're not going to get together with a manufacturer (including Honda) and hiring personnel ready for them, but all the signs point to Red Bull themselves making a PU for the next regs.

That’s the only thing I can think of, otherwise why need anyone like that?

 

[Armageus]

The theory is Red Bull look certain to be making their own 2025 engine and this hiring is for those upcoming regulations. It doesn't rule out that they're not going to get together with a manufacturer (including Honda) and hiring personnel ready for them, but all the signs point to Red Bull themselves making a PU for the next regs.

Makes sense - if you're taking over responsibility of your existing engine and investing in the facilities etc to do that for the next few years, you're probably already halfway there to creating a new engine for the future

 

[kitfit1]

On the face of it, this looks like a good move for Red Bull. But, and there always is a but, why on earth do Red Bull think that Mercedes would let Hodgkinson out of his contract a year early ?
Let's face it, Mercedes have already been working on next years new engine and Hodgkinson will still have all that knowledge in his brain.

What's the view here, a waste or a good move ?

 

[KiNgPiN83]

He can't actually join Red Bull until the end of 2022 apparently so it wouldn't surprise me if he goes on gardening leave soon and his knowledge slowly gets out of date. (Obviously the bulk of it will still be relevant but he wont be able to put it into practice at Red Bull until the beginning of 2023.) Plus it also depends how much can be applied to the Honda engine. If the engine philosophies are quite different he could potentially have to rebuild the engine from the ground up. i.e. think back to how the teams went with turbo placement back at the start of this era. Some had it at the end of the engine, i think Honda tried to put it in the top of the V etc. (I think it was the turbo, may have been an ERS/energy component.) And it wasn't that easy to change to the best method once you'd made your choice..

It should be good for Red Bull but i don't think there will be instant results the moment he walks in the door there.

 

[this_is_gav]

It's about gearing up to the 2025 regulations. There's a PU freeze from the end of this year so they can't make any significant changes anyway.