Former Mercedes engine guru Cowell 'not an option' for Red Bull

Andy Cowell, the man who led the development of Mercedes' dominant hybrid engine in F1 is currently "not an option" for Red Bull according to Helmut Marko.

Red Bull is in the process of setting up its own engine department that will take over Honda's engine program from 2022 to 2025.

A new company named Red Bull Powertrains Limited has been formed, with its activities housed and operated from the Red Bull Technology Campus in Milton Keynes.

Marko has projected that the new production facility should receive its equipment and hardware in the coming months and over the summer while recruitment is already underway.

"We placed ads and have received very good feedback," the Red Bull motorsport boss told Motorsport-Magazin.

It's so far unknown who will lead Red Bull's engine department, but since the announcement of the unit's creation, pundits inevitably speculated that former Mercedes engine boss Andy Cowell could join the bulls.

Cowell left Mercedes' HPP facility in Brixworth at the end of last season, after 16 years with the company and after achieving establishing Mercedes' hybrid power unit as the dominant force in F1.

But Marko threw cold water on the prospect of Cowell joining Red Bull, at least in the near term.

"We always talk," admitted Marko. "He would be a good option, but it's currently not the case."

• Read also: Red Bull has taken control of its own destiny - Horner

Last year, Cowell himself suggested that his time in F1 had perhaps run its course.

"Mercedes is a company that I'm hugely proud to have worked for," Cowell said.

"The people here are an incredible group of people, and I'll miss them. But it's time for a change. Sixteen years feels like a long period of time doing largely the same thing.

"I like a clean sheet of paper challenge of design. I think my personality likes the thrill of being dropped into something that's challenging and scary."

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