It’s official: Red Bull’s chief technical officer and design guru Adrian Newey will depart the Formula 1 team in early 2025 after 19 years.
Newey is the most successful designer of the modern F1 era, having won world championships with Williams (five constructors’, four drivers’) and McLaren (one constructors’, two drivers’) in the ’90s before taking over the design process at Red Bull Racing from 2006.
During his time at Red Bull, Newey oversaw Sebastian Vettel‘s four world championship-winning cars between 2010 to 2013 and the challengers with which Max Verstappen has claimed the last three titles.
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It is not known which team will be Newey’s next destination but Ferrari is said to be in the box seat to acquire the 65-year-old’s services.
Wide World of Sports takes a look at some burning questions around Newey’s exit as Red Bull’s dominance hangs in the balance.
Why did Adrian Newey leave Red Bull?
There are many theories as to why Newey has decided to depart the Milton Keynes-based team.
The main one stems from misconduct allegations first levelled at team principal Christian Horner in February.
The allegations reportedly triggered a falling out between key members of the team including Newey, Horner, senior advisor Helmut Marko, Thai billionaire and majority shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya and minority shareholders at the team’s parent company Red Bull GmbH.
Horner has always denied the claims and was cleared by an internal investigation in February but a second probe is now underway after the female staff member at the centre of the allegations appealed the decision.
Newey was also reportedly dissatisfied with a request from Horner to shift across to the squad’s engineering arm full-time to work on the RB17 hypercar program — thus exploiting a loophole in the sport’s tight budget cap rules.
Finally, inside sources claimed Newey was becoming increasingly frustrated with Horner downplaying his importance to the team’s success in interviews.
What team is Adrian Newey going to?
Ferrari are the favourites to land Newey’s signature, though he is likely to be pursued by all the top teams now his availability has been made public.
Ferrari is known to have approached Newey on at least three separate occasions over the years and is believed to be again chasing the aerodynamic wiz after last losing out in 2014.
Newey has also previously stated that he holds a “desire” to work for Ferrari and has “regret” never having worked with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
This week, Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport reported Newey had met with Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur in London to discuss a potential contract.
Hamilton sent the motorsport world into a spin earlier this year when it was announced that he would depart Mercedes to join Ferrari on a multi-year deal from 2025.
Canadian billionaire and Aston Martin chief executive Lawrence Stroll is also reported to have tabled a huge offer to Newey.
Newey is permitted to start work with a new team from early next year.
Because of the timing, it would be too late for Newey to help his new squad develop their 2025 car, however he would be available to start working on their 2026 car ahead of the sport’s new regulations relating to the engine and aerodynamics of the chassis coming into effect.
Newey is the king of designing cars at the start of new aerodynamic regulations.
His championships at McLaren came in the first two seasons after a regulation shift brought about following the death of Ayrton Senna.
He also took Red Bull from mid-pack runners to the front of the grid upon the introduction of new aero regulations in 2009.
And when a new set of aero regulations were introduced for the 2022 season, who was the fastest car? Red Bull.
With all this in mind, securing Newey’s signature is probably comparable with that of an in-demand driver.
What does Adrian Newey’s departure mean for Max Verstappen?
Newey’s departure will do little to soothe star driver Verstappen who is reportedly also on unfavourable terms with the team following the controversy with Horner.
In March, it was reported that exit clauses in Verstappen’s contract could be triggered if the internal situation were to worsen.
There were suggestions that Verstappen would be permitted to terminate his contract prematurely if key personnel, namely Horner, Marko or Newey, departed.
Verstappen is currently contracted to Red Bull until the end of 2028. Still, his future with the team and the imminent driver merry-go-round ahead of next season have dominated headlines to start the year.
The most likely move for Verstappen is to the vacant seat beside George Russell at Mercedes, with the team having already reportedly offered him a contract valued at somewhere in the region of $250 million per year.
Verstappen is contracted with Red Bull until the end of 2028, but could this be his chance to jump ship in 2025?
The F1 season continues this weekend at the Miami Grand Prix, which gets underway at 6am Monday (AEST).
