Will Courtenay has departed Red Bull 15 months after signing for McLaren, where he becomes the team’s sporting director.

The former lead strategist for Red Bull, Will Courtenay, has started work at McLaren.

Will Courtenay is embarking on a ‘new challenge’ at McLaren

Courtenay has been part of Red Bull since its arrival on the grid in 2005, initially joining the Milton Keynes-based squad as a strategy engineer, having been part of its previous iteration as Jaguar

He became head of race strategy in 2010, a position he has served in ever since, but was announced as leaving for McLaren as far back as September 2024, with the intent being that he would see out his contract with Red Bull until mid-2026.

However, months ahead of this expected timeline, Courtenay has confirmed he has started work with McLaren ahead of the F1 2026 season, where he takes up the role of sporting director.

This earlier-than-expected commencement with McLaren indicates a deal between the two teams has likely been struck to allow the engineer to make the switch before the end of his current contract.

He will report to racing director Randeep Singh.

“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Sporting Director at McLaren Racing!” Courtenay said.

“After 22 years at Red Bull Racing, the last 15 as Head of Race Strategy there, I’m excited to say I’m now embarking on a new challenge, joining the McLaren Racing Formula 1 Team as Sporting Director.

“I’d like to say a huge thanks to everyone I worked with at Red Bull. I made so many great friends there, and I hope I’ll still see many of you in the paddock. It was an incredible two and a bit decades.

“But now I’m looking forward to settling into my new role and team, and hopefully making plenty more new friends, as I do my very best to help McLaren continue its recent success in the coming years.”

Courtenay’s announced departure in late 2024 was the third high-profile departure from Milton Keynes that season, following the departure of sporting director Jonathan Wheatley to take up the team principal role at Sauber/Audi, and chief technical officer Adrian Newey to become managing technical partner (and now team principal) at Aston Martin.

“Will’s experience, professionalism, and passion for motorsport make him the ideal candidate to lead our sporting function,” McLaren team boss Andrea Stella said of Courtenay’s appointment.

“We are now entering a key phase in our journey as a team, and we are confident that he will be a great addition to our strong leadership team as we strive to continue challenging for wins and championships.”

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Speaking to Motorsport-Total.com at the time, then-Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko labelled Courtenay’s departure as a “natural progression” with successful teams losing personnel after being courted by others.

The Austrian hinted that the financial offer made by McLaren was one that Red Bull could not compete with for his services, “What we offered Will Courtenay was not of interest to him. Then he received an offer for the role of sporting director, and it was something more attractive for him, also on an economic level.”

Officially, a replacement for Courtenay’s position has not been confirmed, although Marko did suggest that the natural successor for the role is principal strategy engineer, Hannah Schmitz.

The 40-year-old first joined Red Bull in 2009 as a modelling and strategy engineer.

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