Max Verstappen poaches F1 rival Carlos Sainz’s coach after losing key Red Bull ally

Bradley Scans worked with Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing for four years before becoming his coach during a particularly successful period in Formula 1.

Max Verstappen responded to the loss of his coach by stealing a new one from his Formula 1 rival.

Bradley Skynes is leaving Red Bull Racing after four years with the Dutch team. But the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was his last race in the role, with the former Southend United cinematographer leaving to spend more time at home.

Verstappen wasted little time finding his place. Rupert Manwaring will replace Scans as coach of the three-time world champions starting in the new year.

Manwaring is well known on the F1 circuit and has worked alongside Carlos Sainz for the past eight seasons. He moved from Toro Rosso to McLaren with the Spaniard and then to his current Ferrari team.

But he decided to take on a new challenge. And Manwaring’s move makes sense given his father worked with Verstappen’s father Joss (aka Rupert) when he was a regular runner.

Manwaring works for a show company founded by Dr. Aki Hintsa, former doctor of Lewis Hamilton and Mika Hakkinen. The former McLaren doctor died aged 58 in 2016 after a battle with cancer.

Verstappen won his third world title this year, breaking F1’s single-season record. He now has many commitments to fulfill in the coming weeks but, like his rivals, preparations for the new season will not begin until the New Year.

Verstappen said Red Bull was well-placed to defend his title again when action begins, given he has a significant lead over his rivals in the development of the 2024 car, but he could not envisage Red Bull getting an easy success. Next time. period. “It was a very good season,” he said after the race in Abu Dhabi. The last lap, the last time I got in the car, I was a little emotional. Of course he gave me a lot. Of course, I’m proud to have won my last race. Thanks to everyone at Red Bull for a truly amazing year. This would be difficult to do. But we really had fun this year. “It will be very difficult to have a season like this again. We know you always want to do better, but doing better does not always mean winning races and winning championships. We are very competitive next year. We are working hard on the car which we have. Of course, next year all the other teams will try to beat us, but we are ready to fight and in the meantime we will enjoy this year.”