Red Bull chief designer Craig Skinner leaves F1 team — and more

Red Bull veteran Formula 1 chief designer Craig Skinner has left the Milton Keynes team, Motorsport.com can confirm.

Skinner was an integral part of its success in recent seasons, as it established a second era of dominance powering Max Verstappen to four, consecutive titles from 2021 to 2024. However, following rumours of his departure, Red Bull confirmed to Motorsport.com that Skinner has moved on from the role. His exit is not thought to be connected to previous high-profile departures at the team in recent years.

An engineering graduate from the University of Glasgow, Skinner went on to join Red Bull at the start of the 2006 season, around the same time as design legend Adrian Newey, as a CFD engineer before graduating to senior roles within the aerodynamics department. Following a four-year stint as chief of aerodynamics, Skinner became the chief designer in 2022, working closely with Newey and technical director Pierre Wache.

Newey has since left for Aston Martin, and following the exit of former team boss Christian Horner last July, Skinner is the latest senior technical member to leave, with sporting director Jonathan Wheatley now heading up Audi's F1 team and chief strategist Will Courtenay moving to McLaren.

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But under team principal Laurent Mekies, the new-look Red Bull enjoyed a resurgence over the latter half of 2025, and it also made a promising start to the 2026 pre-season. With assistance from Ford, Red Bull's RB22 features the squad's first-ever in-house power unit, which has defied expectations thus far – drawing praise for its efficient electric energy deployment.

But while praising the effort the team at the Milton Keynes campus had made, four-time world champion Verstappen hasn't been a big fan of the incoming regulations yet, calling the new cars "anti-racing" and "not fun" to drive given the lengths drivers have to go to in order to harvest electric energy.

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French athlete Daniel Heinis impressed judges with a 129-meter jump, securing 133.8 points and the lead in the slopestyle competition. Meanwhile, the USA curling team built a 2-1 lead against China in what was described as a crucial match for Great Britain's interests.

While Red Bull were getting praise for how well their new power unit performed, things weren’t as consistent down at the other end of the pit lane for Racing Bulls.

Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad gave a good account of themselves, suggesting the VCARB 03 should be competitive in the midfield early on. But reliability issues kept both drivers from ranking high on the lap count charts.

Lawson has shown some strong top speeds already, but consistency will be crucial over race distances. Drivers who can’t manage their battery usage effectively each lap may find themselves falling behind.

Ted Kravitz has generally been optimistic about Racing Bulls so far, but there’s a growing concern around the grid about race starts. This could put any qualifying gains at risk if not addressed quickly.

On a positive note, it doesn’t seem like Racing Bulls are among the teams most affected by this issue so far.

How Red Bull’s Power Unit Compares to Other Teams Under the New Start Rules

One of the big questions heading into this season is how teams will manage the new engine regulations, especially with drivers no longer getting battery support off the line. Turbo lag could play a bigger role in how well they launch.

A report from The Race provided some insight into how different teams managed under these changes.

Based on what’s available so far, Lawson’s Racing Bulls had the shortest launch sequence at six seconds, though it was described as ‘messy’ due to uneven revving from the Red Bull engine and a somewhat flat start.

Even if Lawson didn’t nail the getaway, only needing six seconds to prepare for all five lights to go out could stand him in good stead.

By comparison, Oliver Bearman’s Haas held revs for 11 seconds before moving, while Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi-powered car took 13.5 seconds.

Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac has the same Ferrari power unit as Bearman’s car and also took 11 seconds.

The Honda engine continues to draw mixed reviews. Lance Stroll had to restart his first practice attempt after issues with what some described as an ‘unrefined’-sounding unit.

McLaren stood out positively, with an eight-second launch that sounded much smoother. Still, these times are notably longer than what we’ve seen in past seasons and will be something for the FIA to monitor going forward.

Oliver Bearman weighs in on how 2026 Formula 1 race starts have changed

Oliver Bearman shared his thoughts on the 2026 grand prix starts, whilst talking to The Race, saying: “Now we have to spend a lot longer doing the wait phase prior to doing the actual start, and it’s really on a knife-edge to get it right.

“It’s really a matter of milliseconds; if you’re too late or too early by half a second, then it doesn’t work.

“So it’s complicated, and so far we haven’t been consistent at all with the practice starts, which is a bit worrying, but I think we start to understand why and as we understand the engine more, things will get easier.

“It’s not as easy as a throttle position equals a certain power from the engine. And then of course, you have the transition to MGU-K at a certain speed as well, which is proving challenging to implement properly.

“It’s tough for everyone, that’s for sure. You see everyone sitting on the grid for 20 seconds with their rpm all over the place, and it shows that we’re not the only ones struggling with that.”

If Racing Bulls find themselves stuck in midfield again this year, Lawson will be looking for any edge he can find.

The Red Bull power unit has looked strong early on, but there are still questions about just how competitive Racing Bulls’ VCARB 03 chassis will be over a full season.

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Tyson Fury has claimed he will “train alone” for his comeback fight, as he prepares to emerge from retirement for the fifth time.

On 11 April, Fury will box Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where the former heavyweight champion and the Russian held a press conference on Monday.

And after the press conference for the Netflix fight, a host for DAZN put it to Fury that he “might be adding” to his team.

Fury, 37, responded with a reference to Mr T’s character in Rocky III, saying: “Yeah, I’m like Clubber Lang, I’m gonna train alone. I’m gonna train alone.”

Heavyweight legend Lennox Lewis, who was offering punditry for DAZN, chimed in, “Well, he’s been through it so many times, he knows what to do,” before Fury explained his thinking.

“I know how to do it, I know how to go 12 rounds, I know how to push myself when I need to, and I know how to take a rest when I need to.”

When Fury returned to boxing in 2018, following a two-year hiatus, he did so with Ben Davison in his corner. Davison coached the “Gypsy King” to wins over Sefer Seferi, Francesco Pianeta, Tom Schwarz and Otto Wallin, and a draw against Deontay Wilder.

Fury then switched trainers for his second bout with Wilder, and Sugarhill Steward guided the Briton to a stoppage win and the WBC heavyweight title in 2020. With Sugarhill in his corner, Fury stopped Wilder again in 2021, and a knockout of Dillian Whyte followed.

That gave way to a close shave against ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou, whom Fury narrowly outpointed, before he suffered two decision losses to Oleksandr Usyk in 2024.

Tyson Fury says he will be without a trainer for his fight against Arslanbek Makhmudov 🤯 #FuryMakhmudovpic.twitter.com/HZ586Tiiuv

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) February 16, 2026

Fury’s latest retirement ensued, and now fans wait to see if he will really fight Makhmudov, 36, without a coach, or whether he was simply having fun.

The Briton has been training in Thailand as he prepares to put his 34-2-1 (24 KOs) record on the line against Makhmudov, who is 21-2 (19 KOs).

“I thought he’s a good opponent, he’s a dangerous opponent,” Fury told The Independent and other publications on Monday. “If they’d have said I was going to fight some random person no one’s heard of, then that wouldn’t have turned me on, so I wouldn’t have even been interested.

“But considering I’ve got a No 5-ranked WBA heavyweight, who’s known to the British public because he just had a good fight with Dave Allen... and he wrestles bears for fun, and he’s as big as me, and as ugly as me, [it] makes him a very worthy adversary.”