Craig Skinner, Red Bull Racing’s chief designer and a key figure in the team’s recent dominance, has left the Formula 1 squad, the team confirmed to Motorsport.com on Tuesday.
Skinner’s departure comes ahead of the second pre-season test in Bahrain, scheduled for February 18-20, and as Red Bull prepares for its first season with a fully in-house power unit developed in partnership with Ford. The Milton Keynes-based team enjoyed a resurgence in the latter half of 2025 under team principal Laurent Mekies, culminating in a promising start to pre-season testing for the 2026 campaign.
A graduate in engineering from the University of Glasgow, Skinner joined Red Bull in 2006 as a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) engineer, coinciding with the arrival of Adrian Newey, the team’s then-design guru. He progressed through the aerodynamics department, becoming group leader in 2009, then deputy head of aerodynamics, and chief aerodynamicist in 2018. He was appointed chief designer in 2022, working alongside Newey and technical director Pierre Wache.
Skinner’s role was instrumental in the design of the RB19, which achieved a record-breaking 21 wins out of 22 races in the 2023 season, securing Max Verstappen’s third consecutive World Championship. He played a vital part in the four consecutive titles won by Verstappen between 2021 and 2024.
The departure of Skinner follows a series of high-profile exits from Red Bull in recent years. Newey has since moved to Aston Martin, while former team boss Christian Horner left in July 2025. Sporting director Jonathan Wheatley has joined Audi’s F1 team, and chief strategist Will Courtenay has moved to McLaren.
Despite the recent departures, Red Bull’s novel power unit, developed with Ford, has reportedly performed well during initial testing, with its electric energy deployment efficiency drawing particular praise. However, four-time world champion Verstappen has expressed reservations about the incoming 2026 regulations, describing the new cars as “anti-racing” and “not fun” to drive due to the demands of energy harvesting.
Red Bull confirmed Skinner’s departure in a statement, thanking him for his 20 years of service and describing him as “an integral part of our team and its success.” The team stated that his role will be covered internally for the time being.