Red Bull have snatched another top engineer from their Mercedes rivals, according to reports.
They have been on an aggressive recruitment drive for a while now, having launched the own powertrains department to develop power units. The best engineering talent in the business has been identified to run it with many having already left Mercedes and Ferrari to join.
Technical director Ben Hodgkinson himself is a defector, having worked for Mercedes for 20 years overall including several of those with the F1 team. And, according to Autosport, Red Bull have landed their latest key asset in the form of Phil Prew.
The report claims Mercedes' chief power unit engineer has agree to leave the team after six years and take on a leadership role at Red Bull Powertrains. Before joining the Silver Arrows at the start of 2016, he rose through the ranks at McLaren over a period of 18 years.
Having joined in 1997, he later became a race engineer to the likes of David Coulthard, Juan Pablo Montoya and Lewis Hamilton in his early years as an F1 racer. He famously guided the Brit to his first world title in 2008.
Autosport reported that no official start date has been announced for Prew. It is likely, the publication claims, that he will have to take a period of gardening leave before he can start with his new employed given he is a high-ranking member of the Mercedes operation.
Christian Horner spoke positively about the team's powertrains project in the wake of the recent completion of their brand new state-of-the-art facility in Milton Keynes. In Hungary, he told Sky Sports: "Powertrains is going from strength to strength. We've taken on further appointments and recruits, which will be announced shortly and that's exciting for the project.
"I think that things are really taking shape. You can see in Milton Keynes we've gone from being a few units on an industrial estate to being a technology campus. The investment by the group has been significant. The first engine is due to fire up shortly. It's been a steep learning curve, but we've recruited some phenomenal talent."
