Vettel mechanic Handkammer leaves F1

Sebastian Vettel’s former chief mechanic has swapped a 25-year career in formula one for the world of electric road cars.

Last October, we reported that Kenny Handkammer had left Red Bull.

"We have found someone else for this position better suited in the course of the restructuring of the team," Dr Helmut Marko announced at the time.

At the time, some were linking the news with Vettel’s soon-to-be-announced Ferrari switch.

But Handkammer has in fact now re-emerged at Tesla Motors, an American electric road car company.

"He will apply formula one techniques to revolutionise serving mainstream cars," said Tesla chief executive Elon Musk.

Handkammer’s F1 career dates all the way back to the early 90s, when he was a mechanic on Michael Schumacher’s Benetton car.

He was also a member of Renault’s title-winning era with Fernando Alonso, before moving on to Red Bull, where he worked with Vettel as the German won four consecutive championships.

"I think I had the best years in formula one, winning many world championships with the best people in the sport," Handkammer is quoted by Spain’s El Confidencial.

"I wanted a new challenge and will now work with one of the big innovators in road cars," he said.