Adversity for Verstappen and Red Bull: chief mechanic leaves immediately

09:04, 29 Mar 2024
14 Comments
Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen are saying goodbye to Lee Stevenson. The chief mechanic has decided to seek refuge elsewhere after 18 years. Stevenson moves to 'the other side of the pit lane'
Stevenson announced his departure via Instagram. He has finished his last day there. From Monday, he will start at another Formula 1 team, whose name he does not explicitly mention but states is at the other end of the pit lane.
GPblog has since learned which team he will be moving to. There, he will be active immediately next weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix. So for Stevenson, after nearly 20 years of service, there is no period of 'gardening leave', in which he has to spend a certain period of time compulsorily sitting at home before making the switch to a competitor.
Stevenson was currently the chief mechanic at Red Bull - where he worked his way up considerably. When he came over from Jordan in 2006, he was appointed second mechanic. From 2014, he performed the role of first mechanic and he thus ended his adventure at the Milton Keynes-based team as chief mechanic.

Stevenson says goodbye to fans

"Hi everyone, hope you're doing well. Hope you're having a good day. Just thought I'd hop on here just to let you all know that you won't be seeing any more posts from me, from Red Bull, because today's my last day. So it's been an amazing 18 years and all the things that I've managed to achieve here with the team has just been absolutely incredible," he said on Instagram.
"Working on the first car over here, which is the RB2, then the RB16B, and then obviously the RB19. It's been an incredible journey. I just want to say thanks for everyone here. It's been an amazing time that I've had here. In 2006 when I started, I never thought we'd win races, get poles, win championships, but we've managed to do all of that. It's just been amazing. On to the next chapter. That chapter starts on Monday when I fly to Japan to start work with my new team at the other end of the pit lane, it's going to be a massive challenge, but one that I'm ready for," he concluded.
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14 Comments
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Vegan Warrior 29 March 2024 at 10:15+ 4954

If there's no "gardening leave" its like I said , the advatage of owning 2 teams, he is moving to VCARB.

Taking all that RB19 knowledge and applying to the VCARB RB19+ .....but thats allowed and and the rules allow it and Zak is right these rules suck.

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J41L 29 March 2024 at 10:46+ 26449

Was there gardening leave for Vowles?

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Vegan Warrior 29 March 2024 at 13:26+ 4954

More than this chap, how much time is this chap spending between jobs ?

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J41L 29 March 2024 at 13:27+ 26449

"More than this chap"

So your are suggesting Vowles was on gardening leave? Source?

And what about Paddy Lowe?

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Vegan Warrior 29 March 2024 at 16:06+ 4954

I can't, your words make no sense J41L.

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J41L 29 March 2024 at 15:34+ 26449

"More than this chaps"

Wrong, there was any just like there was any for Lowe.

As usual I'll let you have the last word.

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Vegan Warrior 29 March 2024 at 14:57+ 4954

Was there gardening leave for Vowles?

More than this chaps

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J41L 29 March 2024 at 14:25+ 26449

Where did I make claims? Reading comments isn't rocket science. Come on, you can do it.

And nope, you failed again to answer the question.

And remember to be kind.

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Vegan Warrior 29 March 2024 at 14:22+ 4954

What was this guy's gardening leave , was it more than Vowels or Paddy's. You're making some claims so back that up with the number J41L.

Cause this chap had Zero gardening leave. Like a number for engineering employees that stopped working on Friday for RB and on Monday started working at VCARB.

On point enough for you J41L. Hope you've gotten the hang of the new user interface, do you need any tips ?

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J41L 29 March 2024 at 13:43+ 26449

How about staying on point for once and answering the question before you ask other questions?

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Vegan Warrior 29 March 2024 at 13:39+ 4954

What about this chap? How many days gardening leave is having ? More than Vowels or less than Paddy .

Come on you got this....

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J41L 29 March 2024 at 16:03+ 26449

"he is moving to VCARB"

Looking like your sentence above didn't age well.
He's finally moving to Sauber.

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Vegan Warrior 29 March 2024 at 16:05+ 4954

Still haven't answered the question J41L, answer the question.

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New Realist 29 March 2024 at 09:20+ 561

Must have been him then that didn't install the brakes correctly which caused Max's DNF in Australia. Poor guy has paid the price.....that was quick.