F1: Wait, what? Christian Horner reveals Red Bull has poached 220 Mercedes HPP employees

While Red Bull is having another good run in the ongoing F1 season, it has beena torrid time for them off the circuit with too many distractions. After reports of Christian Horner's alleged misconduct with a female employee spread like wildfire, earlierthis year, the Milton Keynes-based team saw Adrian Newey -- their legendary engineer -- part waysafter a lengthy association. Now, Horner has also made heads turn by revealing that they have poached as many as 220 Mercedes HPP personnel. Notably, the number is massive as it is approximately 20 per cent of the overall workforce of the German team.

In a conversation with RacingNews365, Red Bull team principal Horner stated, "I think it's inevitable, I think the two [team bosses] involved, they talk a lot. And I'm not going to get sucked into a tit for tat. But I'd be more focused on Toto's own issues that he has, and I don't have any concern with the strength and depth [of Red Bull], there's always going to be movement between teams."

He further added, "I don't know how many people we've employed from McLaren this year, or how many people [RB] has employed, but from Mercedes, we've taken 220 people out of HPP into Red Bull Powertrains. So when we're talking of losing people, I'd be a bit more worried about the 220 people than one or two CVs."

Not only this, there have also been strong reports that indicatethe senior technician team, including Pierre Wache, has committed to a long-term contract. Meanwhile, there have also been rumoursthat Jonathan Wheatley -- Horner's main man in recent times-- might be interested in moving out.

Wheatley's contract is up for renewal and he mightbe interested in taking on some other challenges. However, Horner didn't comment on the matter, saying, "I mean, there's rumours about everybody, but contracts between individuals, the terms and conditions, is not something that we really talk about to the public."