It was a bit of an information avalanche on Thursday. First, the news of Newey’s departure was brought by the aforementioned AMuS. “Newey is said to be dissatisfied with the power struggles within the team and does not want to work only on the RB17 hypercar project. The thoroughbred engineer continues to desire F1. What will be the next destination of the star constructor? Experts tip Ferrari,” wrote well-informed journalist Michael Schmidt.
Then similar news was reported by other media, while there were no sensational pieces. For example, the British BBC website claimed: “Adrian Newey is leaving Red Bull as a result of the controversy surrounding Christian Horner. Newey, who is considered the greatest designer of all time, has told Red Bull he wants to leave, according to the BBC.
Sky Sports reported the same. “Newey has informally announced to colleagues that he wishes to sever his nearly two-decade-long ties to his championship team. He basically turned away from him.’
Yes, designer Newey’s fragile and artistic soul suffered during the recent internal team “war” when Horner was accused of sexually harassing one of her colleagues, but he ended the affair under slightly strange circumstances. This should now be the main reason why the 65-year-old designer wants to leave. Mutual relations with Horner cooled. “The case has had a destabilizing effect,” claims Sky Sports.
The Red Bull team itself then issued a statement on Thursday evening, in which it is written: “Adrian has a contract with us until at least the end of 2025 and we do not know that he should join another team.”
A subtle, but crucial message with regard to Newey’s future.
Photo: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull stable designer and constructor Adrian Newey
Why? It’s no secret that billionaire Lawrence Stroll would like to get the constructor to his Aston Martin team, and it’s no secret that Ferrari would want the services of a genius. But… Server The Race claims that the contract with Red Bull, which the team itself is talking about, does not allow Newey to work for the competition until January 1, 2027.
“Although Red Bull probably can’t prevent Newey from retiring. Confirmation of the length of his contract means there are mechanisms in his contract that could prevent him from working elsewhere soon. But if the end of 2025 is the earliest date and the beginning of the mandatory vacation, then he could not work elsewhere before the beginning of 2027.”
What could the departure mean for Red Bull? It should be noted that Newey is no longer the one to design every detail of the single-seater. He was rather a design strategist who can offer a different perspective on the interpretation of the rules, choose a different – but successful – design path. It is certain that the stable is more or less preparing for his departure, which is why we cannot clearly expect the end of dominance and a plunge into the depths of results.
But for the competition, on the contrary, Newey can represent a “magician” who will bring the winning essence.
