Cadillac swoops for Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari technical stars in major F1 hires

Cadillac has announced a strong of top-level technical hires, with three senior hires snaffled from elsewhere on the grid.

The American squad has secured signatures from personnel with experience from Red Bull, Ferrari, and Aston Martin.

Cadillac strengthens F1 technical department with senior hires

Cadillac has announced it has signed Craig Skinner, Eric Blandin, and Tim Lean, prominent names to strengthen the team’s technical departments.

The trio will join Cadillac as Chief Development Engineer, Head of Aerodynamics, and Chief Engineer  for Aerodynamics Modelling and Simulation, respectively, with all bringing prominent experience from front-running teams.

Skinner spent 20 years at Red Bull, where he served as Chief Designer during the team’s championship-winning period from 2021 to 2024.

Blandin arrives after more than 11 years as Mercedes’ Chief Aerodynamicist and a subsequent stint as Deputy Technical Director at Aston Martin, while Lean brings experience from McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari, where he was a principal aerodynamicist for more than five years.

The appointments give Cadillac additional leadership across three closely connected areas of Formula 1 car development as the team continues to build out its technical organisation.

All three are expected to join Cadillac over the coming months, following periods of gardening leave, with Skinner expected to start in mid-November exactly 10 months after departing Red Bull; he is said to have opted to back out of an initial decision to join Alpine, in order to join the US squad, meaning some of the time delay results from a sidelining after agreeing to join the Enstone-based team.

Skinner’s arrival gives Cadillac a senior engineer with two decades of experience at Red Bull Racing.

During his time with the Milton Keynes-based outfit, he served as Chief Designer and was part of the technical organisation behind Red Bull’s consecutive world championship-winning seasons from 2021 through 2024, including the dominant RB19.

As Chief Development Engineer, Skinner will provide technical direction across Cadillac’s development process, helping bridge departments between car concept, aerodynamic design, analysis and delivery. He will report to Chief Technical Officer Nick Chester.

Blandin will lead Cadillac’s aerodynamics department after spending more than 11 years as Chief Aerodynamicist at Mercedes and, most recently, serving as Deputy Technical Director at Aston Martin F1. Blandin will also report to Chester and will be responsible for guiding the group’s development and expansion.

Lean will head Cadillac’s aerodynamics modelling and simulation operation.

His career includes more than 10 years at McLaren, six years at Red Bull Racing and more than five years at Ferrari, where he served as principal aerodynamicist.

He will report to Blandin and will oversee the modelling and simulation side of Cadillac’s aerodynamic development.

The announcements come following an extended period of speculation about the futures of Skinner and Blandin following their departures from Red Bull and Aston Martin, respectively.

Marcin Budkowski, team principal for Cadillac, described the appointments as an important stage in the Silverstone-based squad’s technical development.

“These appointments represent a vital step in the technical evolution of the team,” Budkowski said.

“Bringing together experienced leadership across development, aerodynamics and modelling will help us create a stronger integrated technical organization and improve performance on track.

“Craig, Eric and Tim bring race and championship-winning experience to Cadillac F1 in areas that are central to our long-term development.”

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