With everything that's happening behind the scenes in Formula 1 (F1), it's really hard to tell what will happen next. However, everything that's happened is towards Red Bull. What's comes to light recently is the impending deparature of Adrian Newey.
Adrian Newey is a designer for Red Bull. He's won numerous titles with them. He's worked for them for 18 years. Sources have said that Red Bull have not received any resignation letter from him. His official title is Chief Technical Officer. Red Bull believes that there's still space for a conversation with him.
A statement from Red Bull said, "Adrian is contracted until at least the end of 2025 and we are unaware of him joining any other team." Newey joined Red Bull in 2006. It's during this period that Red Bull began its meteoric rise to the top. Being the chief designer has propelled Red Bull to win 13 world titles.
Sebastian Vettel had won four consecutive drivers' titles at the team between 2010-2013. Max Verstappen has taken the last three and is currently dominating the early stages of the new 2024 season with Newey's latest creation. In light of new current ground-effect regulations introduced in 2022, his creations has decimated the competition. They have won 25 out of 27 races. His creations have led to 25 drivers' and constructors' championships across three teams.
His position in Red Bull has come into question recently. It began initially as he appeared to be at risk of Red Bull phasing out his involvement. More recently, it follows the scandal engulfing the team’s leader, Christian Horner.
This bombshell has sent shockwaves across the F1 world. This news just adds to further turbulance in the Red Bull team. This, of course, goes back to the whole Christian Horner investigations. The grievance has since been dismissed on February 28th but the woman who filed the complaint has lodged an appeal. The complainant is expected to take the case to an employment tribunal should that be unsuccessful.
Newey hasn't always been with Red Bull. He started out with McClaren and then Williams before being convinced by Horner to join Red Bull. Newey is the single most important signing in Red Bull’s history and Horner was a key part of pulling that off.
Newey wrote in his memoir that he and Horner shared the same ideology for the team and it has always been felt that Horner was key to keeping Newey happy and engaged in the F1 team. That involved giving him the freedom to pursue different projects and be as involved as he wanted on his own terms. More recently it has been suggested that Newey may feel like he is being phased out, possibly to keep Ferrari target and Red Bull technical director, Pierre Wache, on board for longer-term service.
To stay in F1 and prepare for the new car rules in 2026, Newey would need to negotiate a shorter period of gardening leave that allows him to work at another team next year. There's some bad news, however, for Newey. Red Bull has indicated that that will not be possible. His contractual obligations doesn't makes things any easier for Newey. He's contracted to Red Bull until 2025. Even then, he has a mandatory year long gardening leave thereafter. Hence, he wouldn't be able to join another team until the 2027 season.
Confirmation of Newey's contract runs until "at least the end of 2025" implies there are mechanisms in Newey's deal that could prevent him from working elsewhere for even longer - for example, if the end of 2025 is the earliest that a period of gardening leave would begin; that would mean he couldn't start work for another team until 2027. There would presumably be nothing Red Bull could do to stop Newey from simply retiring.
If he does indeed depart, it would represent a serious threat to the team keeping the world champion, Max Verstappen. The Dutchman’s future with Red Bull is already under question. He is, however, contracted until 2028 but the loss of Newey would represent a serious cause for him to consider a new course.
Newey is understood to have been disquieted by the events at Red Bull that have overshadowed the racing this year. Before the season began, Horner was investigated by Red Bull’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH, after an employee made allegations of coercive and controlling behaviour.
The team has been in turmoil ever since the allegations against Horner became public. There has been a power struggle taking place between Horner and elements of Red Bull GmbH since the death of the company’s co-founder, Dietrich Mateschitz. It has also put Verstappen’s father, Jos, and the director of motorsport, Helmut Marko, at odds with the team principal. In March, Verstappen’s father said Horner was in danger of “tearing the team apart.”
There are now reports - with the story originating in Germany's Auto Motor und Sport and backed up by the BBC - that Newey has informed Red Bull of his intention to leave.
It's no secret that Newey has been linked with Ferrari. It has been reported in the past that he rejected three lucrative offers from the Italian team. His exit has only grown with the announcement of Ferrari signing Lewis Hamilton. Aston Martin has also expressed interest in signing Newey.
Newey has publicly lamented the fact he has not worked with the likes of Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. A move to Maranello would tick off two of those in one go from 2025, having previously turned down offers from Ferrari. Ferrari has been linked with Wache since last year and there are rumours that team boss Fred Vasseur has not given up that chase.
Meanwhile, another of Newey’s borderline regrets – not working with Alonso – could be tackled with a move to the ambitious Aston Martin. They have been freely spending money to assemble a powerhouse technical team and will take over Red Bull’s works Honda engine deal for 2026. Alonso has already signed up for the first year of the new rules and beyond. Moving to Aston Martin would allow Newey to stay in the UK, so it would seem to tick several boxes. Aston Martin recently denied it had made Newey an offer to join Lawrence Stroll’s ambitious organisation. Its position was that it was satisfied with its current technical structure.
Newey's current role at Red Bull had been expanded in recent years to include projects outside of F1. This includes the creation of their first hypercar, the RB17. Red Bull had repeatedly said in recent weeks that Newey remained committed to the team.
Red Bull have said Newey is already heavily involved in designing their RB17 supercar, a role believed to have been instrumental in persuading him to stay at the team. At the Chinese GP [21 April 2024], Verstappen said he would not be leaving but emphasised the atmosphere at the team was an important consideration
Few individuals have had his influence and even fewer have sustained that influence for so long. He is widely regarded as the greatest F1 designer of all time for a reason. Losing that alone would be enough for this team to no longer be Red Bull as we know it.
This whole Red Bull madness is crazy. It's quite obvious that there's a singular source for all this trouble - Christian Horner. I don't like saying this but It's apparent to me that he has become a cancer to the team. He needs to be removed as soon as possible so that there can be harmony within the Red Bull team and F1 in general. Horner needs a reality check and to look himself in the mirror and to get over himself. He must put the team's interests above his own.
I would like to thank Marc Lieberthal for giving me a heads up on this latest development.
Source Material
Hughes, M. & Mitchell-Malm, S. 2024. Newey to leave Red Bull? Shock exit talk explained. The-race-online.
Richards, G. 2024. Red Bull stunned by shock news F1’s top designer Adrian Newey is to leave. The Gaurdian.
Slater, C. 2024. Adrian Newey, F1's serial title-winning designer, decides to leave Red Bull after nearly two decades. Sky Sports.