Red Bull and Mercedes raided as rival F1 team announces 26 top staff recruits

Former Alpine technical director Matt Harman is among the 26 new recruits signed by Williams from rivals up and down the F1 paddock this year.

On Thursday, the team announced details of the hiring spree. It comes after weeks of hints from team principal James Vowles that a number of well-known personnel from within the F1 world were going to be joining his project.

Williams described the hiring spree as a "major recruitment drive of top technical talent". The most notable new signing is Harman, who quit the in-crisis Alpine team earlier this year and will start work at Grove after the summer break.

He joins as design director and will use his 24 years of experiences as a key cog in Pat Fry's technical team. Harman previously worked with Vowles during a spell with Mercedes, and is not the only major recruit from Alpine as Richard Frith also joins as head of performance systems.

Specific focus has been placed upon improving the team's aerodynamics department. Juan Molina has joined from Haas as chief aerodynamicist, having previously been involved in the design of several title-winning Red Bull cars, and will report to department head Adam Kenyon who was promoted earlier this year.

Steve Winstanley is also a contributor to Red Bull's success over the years and joins as chief engineer of composites and structures, while Fabrice Moncade will perform the same role in the computing science department, having decided to join from Ferrari.

Those five are among the 26 recruits from other teams Williams says will be joining this year. Of those, 10 are from Alpine, four from Red Bull and several others from Mercedes and Ferrari. Eleven of those new signings are for the aero department.

Matt Harman left Alpine earlier this year

Vowles said: "I am delighted to welcome these six incredible people to Williams. We are on a mission to fight our way back to the front and being able to attract experienced, championship-winning talent from other teams demonstrates huge belief in the journey we are on.

"Williams is investing in what it takes to win, and this is just the start as we prepare to welcome more new faces from across the grid in the months ahead."

As for drivers, Alex Albon signed a contract extension in May while the team has yet to announce a replacement for Logan Sargeant. Vowles wants Carlos Sainz but now faces new competition from Alpine who have swooped in with a significant offer to try to turn the Spaniard's head.