Racing Bulls' technical director Jody Egginton is to leave the Formula 1 team at the end of this month after more than 10 years with the squad.
Egginton, who originally joined the team in 2014 as head of vehicle performance, had moved up the ranks during his spell there - becoming deputy technical director in 2017 and technical director in 2019.
But in the week leading up to the 2025 F1 season opener in Melbourne, it has now been announced that Egginton is to join Red Bull Advanced Technologies on April 1 as its new engineering director, stepping away from a full-time F1 role.
Speaking about the decision, Egginton said that he felt the time was right to do something different.
"Being part of this team for over 10 years has been a fantastic experience for me, providing some very memorable moments," he said. "But after almost 20 years of focusing solely on F1, I feel it’s time for a change.
"I will have a great remit as engineering director of Red Bull Advanced Technologies and the company currently has an exciting list of projects, so I can't wait to get started on this new challenge."
Egginton's role at Racing Bulls will be covered by chief technical officer Tim Goss, who arrived towards the end of last year, plus deputy technical directors Guillaume Cattelani (car performance) and Andrea Landi (car design).
Speaking about the change, Racing Bulls team boss Laurent Mekies said: "As our long-serving technical director, he [Egginton] has been instrumental in driving innovation and fostering team growth.
"I want to thank Jody for his expertise and the important contribution he has made to the team and the company's upward trajectory. We wish him all the best for this new challenge within the Red Bull family."
Not quick enough
The exit of Egginton comes after a pre-season test where Racing Bulls is well aware it needs to make progress if it is to challenge towards the front of the midfield.
While its overall pace was partly disguised by a focus on long runs with rookie Isack Hadjar, Mekies has been clear that the team is not yet in a position where it can feel satisfied.
Speaking to The Race, he said: "The car behaves as we were expecting it to do, but do we think it's enough? No. We don't think it's enough.
"So why is it not enough? Well, we've made quite a lot of changes in the last 12-14 months.
"We are very confident that we are traveling in the right direction, and we see our people working better in many, many areas, and starting to chat together and improving the tools and infrastructures. But does that convert into laptime yet? Not as much as we would like to.
"But I think it's quite natural, and I think it's important now that we focus on ourselves and that again we are able to draw the right picture of the car, to develop it in the right direction."
