Lee Stevenson has been involved in Red Bull’s success in Formula 1 from 2006 to the present day, but he is now leaving the team and reportedly joining Sauber
Lee Stevenson, Max Verstappen’s chief mechanic at Red Bull, is leaving the team after 18 years together and will take up a new position with a team “at the other end of the pit lane” as early as next Monday
The Brit announced this on his Instagram channel. He had been working for Red Bull since 2006, after six years as a mechanic at Jordan.
He joined Milton Keynes as second mechanic before being promoted to first mechanic in February 2014 and deputy chief mechanic in 2021.
He became Verstappen’s chief mechanic in early 2023. Since his promotion to Red Bull in 2016, Stevenson had already worked closely with the Dutchman as part of his crew and celebrated numerous successes.
“It’s been an amazing 18 years and all the things I’ve been able to achieve here with the team have been incredible,” he says in a video looking back on that time.
“When I started in 2006, I never thought we would win races, take pole positions or win championships,” admits the long-serving Red Bull man, “but we did all that and it was just incredible.”
The next chapter begins on Monday, “when I fly to Japan and start work with my new team at the other end of the pit lane”.
According to consistent media reports, Stevenson is moving to Sauber, which will become the new Audi works team in 2026. There is no official confirmation yet
Stevenson’s successor as Red Bull chief mechanic to Verstappen is Chris Gent, who has been in the role since the start of the current Formula 1 season.
One of Stevenson’s most notable assignments over the years was at the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest. At the time, Verstappen had an accident while bringing his car onto the grid for the start of the race.
But the team around the mechanic managed to repair the damaged suspension in time. Verstappen finished the race in second place