Toto Wolff steals former Christian Horner ally as Mercedes confirm Red Bull swoop

A former Red Bull stalwart has been snapped up by Mercedes for the new Formula 1 season to work closely with Toto Wolff.

The Austrian was seen walking through the paddock on Friday morning with a familiar face – though she was wearing much less familiar attire. Jayne Poole is mostly associated with Red Bull colours as the team's former chief operating officer, but this weekend she was wearing a white shirt with a Mercedes badge.

Mercedes have confirmed that Poole will work as a senior adviser to the team. She is expected to work closely with team principal Wolff and will play a key role in helping Mercedes to adapt in the team's bid to get back to the top of the constructors' championship.

To do that, she will be able to draw on many years of experience within the heart of the Red Bull operation. As well as chief operating officer, Poole is also the former HR director for the 2022 champions.

It is not uncommon for senior figures to leave one top team for another. Last year, Red Bull lost long-serving aerodynamics chief Dan Fallows to Aston Martin when he was hired as the Silverstone outfit's technical director.

But Red Bull have also done some raiding of their own. Ben Hodgkinson was snatched from Mercedes to become technical director of the Powertrains division, while Lewis Hamilton's former race engineer Phil Prew was also hired by Red Bull's engine development project.

Christian Horner worked with Jayne Poole at Red Bull for many years (Getty Images)

Mercedes lost strategy chief James Vowles a few weeks ago, when he began his new role as team principal at Williams. Wolff was gutted to lose a long-serving ally, but made it clear that it felt like the best move for all involved.

He said: "Within our organisation, for him to move up, I would need to move aside and I feel there is something left in me that I can add or contribute.

"Going to Williams, a team that is close to my personal heart and will always cherish is obviously great and having an aspiring partner at Williams, someone that is very logical and rational whilst very experienced in Formula 1 is an overall benefit for both Williams and Mercedes."