Adrian Newey, the Global Chief Technical Officer of Oracle Red Bull Racing, is undoubtedly the most successful designer in Formula 1 history. He has led several of the most recognizable racers in the sport to Drivers’ Championship victories and has won 11 Constructors’ Titles.
Since joining Red Bull in 2006, Newey has played a pivotal role in the company’s ascent to prominence and dominance in the Formula 1 world. Between 2010 and 2013, Sebastian Vettel won four driver’s championships in a row while he was a member of the team; Verstappen won the final three and is presently leading the 2024 season in its early going with Newey’s most recent innovation.
The Team announces that Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey will leave the Red Bull Technology Group in the first quarter of 2025.
The engineering supremo will step back from Formula 1
design duties to focus on final development and delivery of Red Bull’s first hypercar, the… pic.twitter.com/FSSHqzieip— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) May 1, 2024
Red Bull announced in advance of the 2024 Miami Grand Prix that Newey will depart the team in the first quarter of 2025. The shocking revelation coincides with a period of ongoing turmoil at Red Bull following the Austrian parent company’s earlier-in-year investigation into claims of inappropriate behavior made by a female employee against team principal Christian Horner.
After almost 20 years with Red Bull, what lies ahead for Adrian Newey?
Adrian Newey was interviewed by Martin Brundle at the Miami Grand Prix this month, where the 65-year-old talked about his reasons to leave Red Bull and said: “F1 is all-consuming, I’ve been at it for a long time now. 2021 was a hectic year with the title battle with Mercedes through the championship and at the same time, putting all the research and development into the RB18, which is the father of this generation of cars. And then there comes a point where, as Forest Gump said, ‘I’m feeling a little bit tired’.
Newey has been linked with a move to Aston Martin, which would be a feasible option if he wishes to stay in the UK. Team owner Lawrence Stroll is determined to construct a title contender and may be able to make the most generous offer to Newey.
Then there’s Mercedes, who is undoubtedly looking for advice in the technical department after struggling to adjust to the design regulations imposed on F1 in 2022.
During an interview with Sky Italy last year, Newey revealed that he had previously been “very tempted” to join the Italian side. So, one can assume that the most likely destination for Newey in F1 appears to be Ferrari.
Last year, Newey also stated that working with either Lewis Hamilton or Fernando Alonso “would have been fabulous.” There is little question that Ferrari would jump at the opportunity to add Newey to a squad being remade under Frederic Vasseur’s leadership.
Brundle cautioned that only those with resources will profit from Newey’s innovations
Martin Brundle in a recent episode of F1 Beyond The Grid has warned that Adrian Newey is “not just a plug-and-play option for success at any team,” as only those with resources will be able to rightfully profit from Newey’s innovations. “You’ve got to have a lot of money and a lot of resources or there’s no point having Adrian Newey,” bringing it down to only four teams that check all the criteria, namely: Aston Martin, Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes.
According to Brundle, all the teams are pretending to be “happy” with their current resources and are pretending to not care much about Newey’s Red Bull exit. This is so because they either don’t have the means to approach him and get him, and they are not willing to upset the team they have already got in “place.”
“It’s a double-edged sword,” said Brundle, “If you can get Adrian’s experience and skills, then you’ve got him and somebody else doesn’t have him. So they’ll all be trying like crazy. If they’re not, they should be.”
Brundle is convinced that Newey will appear elsewhere on the grid, stating that the new 2026 regulations “have Adrian written all over them.” As the new era of aerodynamics is said to begin in F1 from 2026 onwards, it will be Adrian Newey’s new era, and whichever team he chooses to be a part of will probably have an upper hand in the competition.
Of course, all of this depends on whether Newey wants another F1 project in the first place; while he has not ruled out returning to the series, he presently has “no plans” for one.