Craig Skinner, Red Bull Racing's chief designer, has departed the team after two decades, the Formula 1 outfit confirmed. Skinner played a key role in the team's success, including four consecutive drivers' titles with Max Verstappen from 2021 to 2024. His exit comes ahead of the 2026 season, amid other recent personnel changes at the Milton Keynes-based squad.
Red Bull Racing confirmed that chief designer Craig Skinner has left the team after 20 years of service. Skinner, an engineering graduate from the University of Glasgow, joined Red Bull in 2006 as a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) engineer, following stints at Jordan and Williams. He progressed through senior roles in the aerodynamics department, serving as chief of aerodynamics for four years before becoming chief designer in 2022. During this time, he worked closely with design legend Adrian Newey and technical director Pierre Wache.
Skinner contributed significantly to Red Bull's dominance, powering Max Verstappen to four consecutive world drivers' titles from 2021 to 2024. He was instrumental in developing championship-winning cars, including the RB19, which secured 21 out of 22 race victories in 2023. In a statement, Red Bull said: "After 20 years with the team, Craig Skinner, our Chief Designer, will be leaving the Red Bull Technology team. Craig has been an integral part of our team and its success, and we would like to thank him for his hard work and commitment. The whole Red Bull team wishes him all the best for the future."
The departure is described as voluntary and not linked to recent high-profile exits, such as Newey's move to Aston Martin, former team principal Christian Horner's exit in July 2025, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley's transition to Audi, chief strategist Will Courtenay's join to McLaren, Helmut Marko's departure in December 2025, and chief engineering officer Rob Marshall's exit. His role will be covered internally in the interim.
The news emerges just weeks before the 2026 Formula 1 season opener in Australia on March 6-8, following pre-season testing in Bahrain. Under new team principal Laurent Mekies, Red Bull enjoyed a resurgence in the latter half of 2025 and has shown promise in 2026 pre-season with its first in-house power unit developed in partnership with Ford, praised for efficient electric energy deployment. However, Verstappen has criticized the new regulations, calling the cars "anti-racing" and "not fun" due to the demands of harvesting electric energy.
