Max Verstappen set to lose Red Bull ally to Audi in significant F1 raid

Max Verstappen is poised to lose a key ally in the Red Bull garage, as Audi have reportedly swooped ahead of their official Formula 1 debut next year. The current Sauber team will be rebranded and one of the leaders within the Red Bull garage, who has worked closely with Verstappen for many years, is set to join them.

The Race reports that Matt Caller, who has been Verstappen's number one mechanic since 2022 after joining Red Bull seven years prior, has been recruited by the team. It's likely this move was suggested by Jonathan Wheatley, who would have worked with Caller for nearly a decade as Red Bull sporting director before becoming Sauber team principal earlier this year.

Caller is expected to stay put until the end of this season, ensuring minimal disruption on Verstappen's side of the garage as the Dutchman pursues an unlikely fifth consecutive drivers' title.

Despite being 69 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, Verstappen has kept himself in the running with back-to-back victories heading into Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix.

Once the season concludes, Caller will be free to join his new employer. He's set to become Audi's new chief mechanic, replacing another former Red Bull garage stalwart, Lee Stevenson, who was recruited at the start of last year and is due for a promotion to a higher position.

Neither Red Bull nor Sauber have officially confirmed Caller's impending move at the time of writing. However, this is the latest significant signing in a major recruitment drive for Audi, who have also poached from Ferrari recently to secure the services of engine chief Wolf Zimmermann and power unit performance engineer Lars Schmidt.

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While Wheatley may have been instrumental in securing Caller from Red Bull, it seems probable that the Ferrari duo were pinpointed by the Scuderia's former team principal Mattia Binotto. The Italian now holds the position of chief operating officer at Audi, forming a leadership duo with Wheatley as they usher in the team's new era.

As part of their F1 entry, Audi are manufacturing their own engines to transform the current Sauber team into a works team for the first time. Providing an update on this project, Wheatley informed reporters: "It's a hugely busy time for every Formula 1 team and everyone's focus naturally turns to 2026. We are on schedule with our dyno program. The engine has been on the dyno for a while now.

"The focus now is on reliability because we will be running the car in an incredibly short period of time. It's an exciting period in the Audi F1 project, obviously mating chassis and powertrain together for the first time in December. Our simulator program naturally starts to lean towards 2026 as well.

"But I think in both of those programs, it's a little bit too early to talk about performance – which might be your next question. And of course, we won't really know any of this until the first qualifying session and the first race in Melbourne."