The talk of the F1 Miami paddock was less about the racing and more about off track matters, as is often the case in the sport. Red Bull had announced prior to the weekend that their guru designer of 18 years would be leaving the F1 team with immediate effect and effectively working his garden leave on the completion of the RB17 hyper car project.

The Red Bull track car only project will see just 50 of these exclusive cars produced over the next three calendar years. The RB17 was conceived to keep the restless Newey content and given his previous tenures at Williams and McLaren, both less than eight years, Christian Horner has done a remarkable job to retain the services of Newey for as long as he did.

 

 

 

Newey: ‘The restless spirit”

Not satisfied with just designing Formula One cars, Newey had persuaded Aston Martin who were the Red Bull team sponsor at the time, to allow him to design a hypercar for the British iconic racing marque. The Valkyrie nearly bankrupt the British automaker with 150 of the non-track only variant to be built.

At the initiation of the project, the Aston Martin brand did not compete in Formula One hence the partnership with Red Bull. Yet a later acquisition of the brand by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll saw the Racing Point team morph into the British Racing Green team we see Fernando Alonso driving for today.

Red Bull’s hypercar project was the next move from Red Bull to keep Newey ‘interested’ outside of his F1 consultant role within the team. But as this draws to a close, the 65 year old Newey clearly is in need of of another challenge.

Newey gave one interview in Miami explaining his reasons for leaving Red Bull and it was to his friend Martin Brundle – ex F1 racer and Sky Sports pundit. Newey has invited Brundle on a number of occasions to join him and race cars around the world from his classic car collection.

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Adrian claims he’s “tired”

“Formula 1 is all consuming,” Newey told Brundle. ”I’ve been at it for a long time now. 2021 was a really busy year because of the tight battle with Mercedes through the championship, and at the same time, putting all the research and development into the [RB]18, which is the father of this generation of cars. There comes a point I think – I just felt, as Forrest Gump said: ‘I’m feeling a little bit tired.’”

Newey explained he had been considering leaving the Red Bull team for some time. For ten years now he has not been the team’s technical director and as certain reports suggests has dipped in and out of the F1 design team as he pleases. Adrian had reduced his workload to just 150 days and spends a significant amount of his spare time in South Africa.

When asked how long he’d been contemplating leaving the team where he has had his greatest success, a slightly jaded Newey said: “A little while now, if I’m honest. I guess over the winter a little bit, and then, as events have unfolded this year, I thought – I’m in the very lucky position where I don’t need to work to live. I work because I enjoy it, and as I say, now’s a good time to step back and take a bit of a break and take stock of life.”

The now ex-Red Bull Racing engineer suggested he may buy a motorhome and take an extended trip “down through France with the dogs.”

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“Off travelling”, not persuasive

The interview did present a weary character and his explanations of the timing of him leaving Red Bull Racing were almost passable. Yet as TJ13 noted at the time, it appears strange Newey is to become a free agent at some point during the first quarter of 2021.

Adrian was thinking of leaving the team in 2023, but Christian Horner persuaded him to sign a new contract which would see him work in F1 until the end of 2025. Following that would be a usual garden leave period of 12-18 months for such a senior engineer, meaning Newey – if he so chose – could not influence the designs of other teams until probably 2027.

Cutting to the chase, if Newey is really setting off on his travels once his input into the RB17 hypercar project is complete in March 2025; Why did he need to negotiate with Red Bull to cancel his gardening leave? Should Adrian take a year off then he would be retiring mid-2026 after the next set of big car design regulations had been brought to life.

Pepijn van de Houist who writes for the popular Racing 365 journal suggests Newey may not be telling the truth – in other words is ‘lying’ – given the persistent rumours of him joining Ferrari or Aston Martin. He claims Newey is on a “disguised gardening leave” given he should be able to join another F1 team in Q2 2025.

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Newey is finished with Red Bull

The divorce with Red Bull also appears to be final and the notion Newey may go travelling for a couple of years and then take up his partnership with Christian Horner appears remote. Horner in Miami explained 

that Adrian was no longer in important briefings and has no access to sensitive data.

Newey’s negotiated early departure gives him the opportunity to unpack the biggest regulation change in F1 history with another team. Yet when the 2026 chassis regulations are finalised in June this year, teams will need to already begin their conceptual work. And it is at this which Newey is at his best. 

So for all the talk of Red Bull Racing releasing Newey early from his contract out of respect for his 18 years of service – he will still be out of the loop for too long and the 2026 car designs will be well under way by the time he is a free agent.

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F1 lead time take years

And finally F1 teams are immeasurably more complex than when Newey arrived at Williams and claimed a title in his second year with Nigel Mansell. Again in an F1 world where lead times for change have increased, Newey’s first titles for Red Bull in his fifth season with the team, were certainly certainly swift work.

Yet its questionable fourteen years on from Vettel’s first championship whether the likes of a failing and falling Mercedes can be turned around in similar time. McLaren’s Zak Brown stated publicly in Miami they were not looking to sign Newey. 

So this leaves Ferrari who have pursued Newey on three previous occasions as the favourite for his signature. Add to this some throw away comment once made from Adrian that he’d like to have worked with Lewis Hamilton – and there we go.

Whether Newey is being honest about his “time out” plans is yet to be seen. But of he arrives wearing a red tie in Maranello next April, the mantle of the ‘honest’ British gentleman will surely be tarnished. The reality is there is no greater legacy for Adrian Newey to leave other than his expert engineering skills which transformed the ashes of the F1 jaguar ten into the soon to be mighty fifteen RBR F1 titles.

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MARKO REVEALS SOURCE OF RICCIARDO ‘SACKED’ RUMOURS

Daniel Ricciardo had the best result of his comeback career pastime out in Miami, the only problem was it was in the minor event – The Sprint Race. The likeable Aussie failed to get out of Q1 in Grand Prix qualifying which in effect ruined his race before it began. Ricciardo finished P15 and outside the points.

It was however a good weekend for RB with Yuki Tsunoda finishing the GP in P7 and his 4 points plus the 5 from Daniel in the Sprint saw the team have its best weekend of the season so far…. READ MORE