The news of Adrian Newey’s formal departure from the Red Bull Racing team amusingly came at a time where the F1 folk were sleeping in Miami. The statements released by the team are notably corporate but the message is clear from each of the parties, that Newey will be leaving the Red Bull family at some undefined moment in the future.
The Red Bull design guru will oversea the design and early production of the RB17, a hypercar project Newey had been keen to start. Yet despite the speculation around the reasons for Newey’s decision there’s no hint of animosity between Horner and Newey in particular, with the latter saying of there Red bull boss as, “Christian, who has not only been my business partner but also a friend of our respective families.”
Decision nothing to do with Horner drama
Newey is in his 20th year with the Red Bull team and has taken the ashes of the Jaguar F1 project and built it into a super power of the sport, winning 13 world titles in 19 seasons and with two more almost certainly on the way.
The statement from Red Bull was in places somewhat ambiguous, but it seems to suggests Newey will leave the F1 team immediately to work on the hyper car project. Yet with the 2026 big new design change regulations just six weeks away from being finalised, Newey will no doubt be giving his input on that.
It now appears Newey has seriously been considering his future for some while and it’s not the Horner saga which instigated this move. Sky F1’s Craig Slater now reports that Adrian was thinking of leaving Red Bull last year.
“I’ve gained detail on why it is that Newey has decided to leave. It isn’t a short-term thing,” Slater told Sky News. “I have learned that Newey was considering leaving Red Bull last year.
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Newey “not a fan of Netflix era”
“Christian Horner had to talk him into, effectively, signing a new contract with the team. Which he did, last May. But he has become increasingly disillusioned with the power struggle going on behind-the-scenes at the team.
“There is friction between Salzburg – where Red Bull’s head office, in sporting terms, is – and the Formula 1 team base in Milton Keynes.
“And also the wider friction between the Thai majority ownership and the Austrian 49% minority ownership. That power struggle has made it a difficult working environment for Newey.
“Additionally, he is not a fan of the Netflix era of Formula 1 which is so much in the spotlight. There is so much commercial focus, as well. That does not sit well with him.”
Newey not signed for another F1 team
Old School F1 folk are typically not fans of the Netflix Drive to Survive series, yet in the 21st century, each sport is in competition for the eyeballs of spectators. Netflix roughly doubled the annual USA TV audience from 10m to over 22m in 2023.
The series is designed to get fans up close and personnel with the paddock personalities and the dramas often kept behind closed doors. Yet some feel this dumbs down their favourite sport also preferring the standard F1 weekend to a Sprint format.
The talk of Newey’s next move after the RB17 is completed will rumble on for some time, though Slater believes he will make an announcement in just “weeks” and has no other deal in place at the moment.
“What I can say, in factual terms, is that Newey has told Red Bull that he has not signed an agreement to join another Formula 1 team,” Slater said.
“He would not have a shortage of offers. We know of interest from Ferrari and Aston Martin. Well-placed sources at Aston Martin felt that, if Newey went elsewhere, Ferrari was the more enticing proposition.”
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Retirement possibility
Newey is reportedly not a fan of Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll and his style of management. Also the at times intense and bitter Red Bull rivalry with Mercedes means almost certainly that Newey would not choose to work for Toto Wolff.
Having been courted by Ferrari three times in the past, should Newey take on another F1 project it is likely to be in Maranello. The Red Bull designer has in the past spoken of the expectation in Italy and the subsequent pressure – and aged 65 its questionable whether Newey wants that kind of lifestyle.
Slater concludes his report stating: “I’ve spoken to a number of people close to Newey, who understand it will be a matter of weeks until he decides what to do.”
“Retirement isn’t out of the question. He is 65 years old.”
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Red Bull design team is strong
Christian Horner has been at pains to explain over the past year or so how gifted the Red Bull team of design engineers without Newey’s influence.
“Adrian is a big part of this team and big part of what we’ve achieved,” Horner told Autosport. “But, of course, his role has evolved over the last few years and the technical team beneath him led by Pierre Wache, they’re doing a wonderful job.
“And so that they’re not reliant on Adrian. He has the ability to come in, come out and work on other projects and I think that’s part of the evolution of any team.”
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Some F1 journalists have sought to suggest this kind of talk has irritated Newey because his wife took to social media to express her displeasure at Horner’s comments. Posting on X she wrote: “Imagine being Adrian Newey right now. Wrote and sung the theme tune but Horner bags the credit.”
Pierre Wache has been the subject of Ferrari attention this year, but with Newey leaving the Red Bull team this gives them the opportunity to tie the Frenchman down long term with an offer he simply can’t refuse.
RED BULL COST CAP MASTERSTROKE WITH NEWEY INTERNAL MOVE
Red Bull Racing must be laughing to their collective selves this morning as the news finally broke about Adrian Newey’s future intentions. Much has been written on the topic over the past few days starting with the German media who cited sources close to Newey.
The premise of the narrative has been, Adrian Newey – being a sensitive soul – has been ‘disturbed’ by either Christian Horner’s alleged sexting or the internal power struggle reported at the top of the Red Bull Group. This has led him to cast an eye on where he can finish his work in a ‘comfortable’ environment…. READ MORE
