Red Bull has confirmed its chief technical officer Adrian Newey is leaving after 19 years with them.
He will leave the team during the first quarter of next year, freeing him up to join a rival ahead of the introduction of F1’s new technical regulations in 2026.Red Bull said Newey will cease his work on the team’s current F1 car immediately and will switch his attention to their forthcoming RB17 track car.
Newey has led Red Bull’s design team which produced two generations of cars which dominated Formula 1. His departure will be an immense blow to the reigning world champions.
“For almost two decades it has been my great honour to have played a key role in Red Bull Racing’s progress from upstart newcomer to multiple title-winning team,” said Newey. “However, I feel now is an opportune moment to hand that baton over to others and to seek new challenges for myself.”
Newey’s departure has been long rumoured following months of speculation that the 65-year-old was unhappy with Red Bull’s reaction to allegations levelled against team principal Christian Horner.
An internal investigation cleared Horner of inappropriate behaviour shortly before the season began. However Red Bull has revealed no details of the investigation and the complainant has lodged an appeal.
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Red Bull’s acquisition of Newey from rivals McLaren in 2005 helped to lay the groundwork for their run of championship titles between 2010 and 2013. His latest generation of designs propelled the team to unprecedented levels of success.
Newey believes the team are well placed to continue their domination of F1 into next year.
“I would like to thank the many amazing people I have worked with at Red Bull in our journey over the last 18 years for their talent, dedication and hard work,” he said. “It has been a real privilege, and I am confident that the engineering team are well prepared for the work going into the final evolution of the car under the four-year period of this regulation set.
“On a personal note, I would also like to thank the shareholders, the late Dietrich Mateschitz, Mark Mateschitz and Chalerm Yoovidhya for their unwavering support during my time at Red Bull, and Christian, who has not only been my business partner but also a friend of our respective families. Also, thanks to Oliver Mintzlaff for his stewardship and Eddie Jordan, my close friend and manager.”
Horner said Newey played a central role in all the success the team has enjoyed to date. “All of our greatest moments from the past 20 years have come with Adrian’s hand on the technical tiller.
“His vision and brilliance have helped us to 13 titles in 20 seasons. His exceptional ability to conceptualise beyond F1 and bring wider inspiration to bear on the design of grand prix cars, his remarkable talent for embracing change and finding the most rewarding areas of the rules to focus on, and his relentless will to win have helped Red Bull Racing to become a greater force than I think even the late Dietrich Mateschitz might have imagined.
“More than that, the past 19 years with Adrian have been enormous fun. For me, when Adrian joined Red Bull, he was already a superstar designer. Two decades and 13 championships later he leaves as a true legend. He is also my friend and someone I will be eternally grateful to for everything he brought to our partnership. The legacy he leaves behind will echo through the halls of Milton Keynes and RB17 track car will be a fitting testament and legacy to his time with us.”
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Sumedh
1st May 2024, 10:21
So, working on the hypercar is the equivalent of gardening leave then. He will start having impact on mid-season upgrades of his next team in 2025 itself. Great for fans.
Rashmil Rajagopalan
1st May 2024, 10:23
Big Big News! Finally Official.
MichaelN
1st May 2024, 10:28
Huh, I didn’t know Eddie Jordan was linked to this somehow. Small world.
I’m a bit scrotum we’ll see more of Newey given his age, but who knows.
MichaelN
1st May 2024, 10:28
Scrotum? Well that’s unfortunate. Was meant to be: sceptical.
MarcusAurelius (@marcusaurelius)
1st May 2024, 10:34
COTD!
notagrumpyfan
1st May 2024, 10:55
One wonders how auto-correct works these days ;)
FrAId
SteveP
1st May 2024, 18:05
Just like it always did, and there is a reason I’ve referred to it as “auto-bollox”
In fact I’ve done that for so long the iPhone has actually learned the phrase and will correct it if I mistype :)
David BR (@david-br)
1st May 2024, 10:55
Imagine having to explain predictive text software to Freud :O)
Pete
1st May 2024, 12:10
Haha that’s amazing.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
1st May 2024, 12:30
We all feel a bit like that sometimes Michael ;)
Tone
1st May 2024, 14:06
Newey is going to Ferrari. I feel it in my scrotum
Brian (@bealzbob)
1st May 2024, 14:08
Damn auto-carrot.
sam
1st May 2024, 18:04
Best comment EVER
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd May 2024, 3:25
Ahah, I’d be so embarrassed!
stefano (@alfa145)
2nd May 2024, 14:28
how is that even autocorrect? it’s not even remotely a similar word, lol
olpeculier (@olpeculier)
1st May 2024, 10:57
A man with this talent can probably earn as much as the drivers..
Dex
1st May 2024, 14:39
As much as the very top drivers, sure. I’d rather change my driver than such a designer, even Verstappen. The only reason why perhaps that wouldn’t be wise would be his age, but even if he remained for just a year or two that would affect all the cars within the new set of reg (so like 5 years worth of performance boost).
I’ve nothing against RB so I’m not celebrating this, but I am curious. Unlike many, I hope he won’t go to Ferrari; I’d like to see him win something with a little less predictable team (why not AM, even if that means having the junior more often inside the top 10, perhaps even top 5 when there are many retirements).
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd May 2024, 3:27
Yes, I agree, with the car being so important nowadays, if a dominant car is 1 sec faster than the others, there’s no driver that can make that difference, verstappen could beat sargeant by 1 sec, but not norris, so verstappen is definitely the one who comes closest to being as valuable as newey, although not as much.
mystic one (@mysticus)
2nd May 2024, 20:39
age hmm… it s not like newey designed the car 25 yrs ago. it was only 4 yrs! suddenly his age is problem? we ll see what two old timers can do in a team :)
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
1st May 2024, 11:40
I had no idea Eddie Jordan was Neweys manager either. I can’t imagine he’s had much to do for the last near two decades other than the odd contract renewal.
*sorry you’re a scrotum
SteveP
1st May 2024, 18:07
Only a bit
olpeculier (@olpeculier)
1st May 2024, 10:30
So (certain) engineers have managers too?!
Can only imagine what the moral at Red Bull must be like at the moment.
Chaitanya
1st May 2024, 11:30
Billionare who made fortune selling poison and employed people of questionable moral character why are people surprised with this situation.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
1st May 2024, 11:48
A lot higher than what it will be in a month or so when they hear Max is jumping ship.
Vulture
1st May 2024, 12:59
He isn’t too good at what he does. He has been beaten more times than not. Everything has to fall into place to win a championship and Newey was part of that. He has been with Red Bull nearly 20 years and won 7 drivers championships (some controversial). For context, Mercedes have won 7 drivers championships in 14 years since they took over Brawn.
Le Jimster (@lejimster82)
1st May 2024, 18:06
To be fair to Newey, they didn’t have an engine powerful enough to compete with Mercedes for a good 7 years or more, so they’re very comparable when you factor that in. I would argue if they did have the Honda power unit they enjoy now earlier, Mercedes dominance would have been ended sooner.
Vulture
1st May 2024, 18:16
As I said, everything has to fall into place. It is common knowledge that some of his designs weren’t good for the engine. I’m not hating, just some people think the guy is god.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd May 2024, 3:30
Agree, vulture, newey is not god, he could be a verstappen-like engineer, the best there is currently, but alone he can’t do miracles, as proven by red bull’s success in the merc era.
anon
1st May 2024, 13:30
In the past, it was reported that Newey is technically employed through a company that he set up. In that scenario, it may be that Eddie Jordan is technically a representative of that company, making Newey’s set up an unusual exception.
SteveP
1st May 2024, 18:16
I think I recall seeing a podcast where EJ ‘predicted’ AN moving.
EJ betting with insider knowledge?
Craig
1st May 2024, 13:37
I can imagine it’ll be very uncertain
MadLewis (@madlewis)
1st May 2024, 11:55
Didn’t come unexpected! Curious what Newey will do next. Leaving F1 behind or maybe Ferrari? Exciting times ahead. I don’t think this will hurt the RB 24 and 25 car tho.
Postreader
1st May 2024, 12:18
Rumors are he received offers from both Ferrari and Aston Martin, but it’s only seriously considering the former. His lawyers are also working to break him free from his one-year non-compete clause.
Pete
1st May 2024, 13:56
I have no doubt he’ll have offers. He could say he wants to join any team in F1 and they’d immediately put him in charge of designing their car for however much he wants. It’ll be whether Newey wants to carry on in F1 or whether he wants to do something different.
Jere (@jerejj)
1st May 2024, 12:40
@madlewis Certainly not the current, but next year’s machinery is another matter, given how early into next year’s car’s design & development phase all teams are at this time of year.
Asd
1st May 2024, 11:58
He produced 13 championship winning cars in 20 seasons. WOW. He should’ve been given those WDC titles.
And then add the 2 IndyCar WDCs titles and 2 Indianapolish 500 wins on top of that.
Now I will only be praying for him and Alonso to be able to join forces at Aston Martin in 2026.
grapmg
1st May 2024, 14:05
It’s 13 F1 titles in 20 seasons not 13 championship winning cars. These titles include WCC and WDC. If you count all the championship winning cars (WCC) during his carreer he will probably have 13 at the end of this year
MichaelN
1st May 2024, 15:56
Yeah, as grapmg notes, it’s a bit misleading (though not incorrect).
Of the 20 Red Bull cars Newey designed or helped design, the RB19 (2), RB18 (2), RB16B (1), RB9 (2), RB8 (2), RB7 (2) and RB6 (2) won titles. We can safely add the RB20 (2), so 8 of these Red Bull cars won either one or both titles. Which is still very impressive, of course.
PacificPR (@streydt)
1st May 2024, 12:00
Feels like the Red Bull Soufflé is about to deflate.
Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
1st May 2024, 12:00
Hope he stays in F1 and builds one more all conquring car.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
1st May 2024, 12:20
Frankly, I imagine he’s just plain tired after working in F1 for as many years as he has.
I won’t be surprised if he steps away completely. Newey certainly doesn’t need money, and has a great collection of cars etc. time to retire and enjoy it while he can.
If he’s recruited to another team, and I really can’t see it happening, then surely his motivation could only be showing that he can take a low/mid level team to the very top just like he did at RBR but to do that I feel he’d need a strong team principal working with him as he’s had for years.
Thanks for all you’ve done for us fans over the many years Adrian.
Ajaxn
1st May 2024, 12:35
They could have him in F1 creating the next regulations for a future spec car.
Vulture
1st May 2024, 12:46
It’s not like he has been overworked. The only thing that will be tiring is the travel.
Le Jimster (@lejimster82)
1st May 2024, 19:04
Listening to his interviews I don’t think he’s retiring or “tired”. He loves building fast cars and likely feels ready for a fresh challenge where he can do it all over again. I do wonder which team he will end up at next. We can rule out Mercedes as Toto dimissed the idea and similarly McLaren don’t appear to be looking for his services. Apparently he had turned down Aston Martin only recently. Ferrari have wanted him for a long time, but I do wonder how much of a challenge he wants to give himself. The Williams rebuild, the Audi project, heck even Haas might be more tempting for an engineer proving his skill to the world once again.
Ajaxn
1st May 2024, 12:33
… But where will he go. #
would it be one of the big 2, Mercedes or Ferrari, or might we find him back where it all began, at Williams? He won’t have the same impact as he has for the Ground effect but he would be influential where the margins are tight.
dot_com (@dot_com)
1st May 2024, 19:13
Oh how I would love to see Newey back at Williams to help build them into a front running team again.
Jere (@jerejj)
1st May 2024, 12:40
Unsurprising since the first report a few days back.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
1st May 2024, 12:42
Nice to see it officially confirmed at last.
I will be happy if he stays, with another team, but it might be better if he left F1.
He is just too good at what he does and might just design another totally dominant rocket ship of a car for Ferrari/Mercedes/Aston or who ever, and we will all be complaining again.
The 2026 season is looking better and better all the time to me :)
Nick T.
2nd May 2024, 0:51
If he goes to Merc (zero chance IMO) or Ferrari, yes it’d be better if he just left. The last thing we need is a team that has been dominant in the recent past being dominant again. But, yeah, I’d be just as happy with no one having the magic bullet.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd May 2024, 3:36
Mmm, you would call ferrari’s dominance recent past? We have to go back 16 years to find a title at all for them, and definitely not dominant, 20 years for the last ferrari dominant cars, that’s a long time!
SteveP
2nd May 2024, 12:10
Yep, 1 point difference between WDC 1st and WDC 2nd and 3rd (points tied).
Transfer any one of the wins for Alonso or Hamilton to the other side of the garage, and Kimi is 2nd at best.
Conspiracy theorists might ask why McLaren engineers left Ham out on bald tyres so long at China GP, and whether the brown envelopes of cash from FA management had any bearing.
Ben
1st May 2024, 13:04
Stopping work on the F1 project now is interesting. I didn’t think this would impact next year that much, but actually it could. I expect the team have a plan for upgrades for 2024 and let’s face it a very solid foundation for 2025, but this could make things closer next year and obviously 2026 a big shake up is coming anyway.
Did F1 just get interesting again?
RR
1st May 2024, 13:16
Sorry to say so, but Newey is a much diminished figure after this.
Leave an ideal situation for a designer of his class because of Horner’s shenanigans with another employee? That is intolerant, infantile, and plain stupid.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
1st May 2024, 13:31
Or…
…Red Bull’s dominance is because of Newey. The ‘Horner Shenanigans’ has spoiled what should be an amazing period for the team, so Newey understandably wants to leave.
amped
1st May 2024, 17:44
Is there any evidence that the Horner shenanigans are behind this? Rather than the interference & attempts to cause upset by the new faces in Red Bull HQ that are behind this?
Rumours of internal power struggle trouble within Red Bull have existed for a lot longer than we have heard about Horner having an affair with his assistant and it ending badly.
anon
1st May 2024, 18:59
amped, I suspect that we’re unlikely to get a clear answer on that from any of the parties involved.
Given that it has been hanging over the team for an extended period of time, and given that the handling of the case seems to have been a very divisive affair that has impacted a wide swathe of the team, it would probably have been quite difficult for Newey to completely isolate himself from ongoing events. Indeed, as an important, influential and respected figure within Red Bull, it’s quite possible that Newey might have found himself being courted by different factions within the team that wanted to influence him one way or another over that case.
Because it’s been a major event, it probably would have had some impact, either as a direct reaction to how the case was handled, or due to the subsequent internal politics surrounding the case. However, whether that was the sole reason is hard to say – some sources have suggested that Newey was becoming a bit more dissatisfied with the way that Red Bull had been treating him over the past year or two, suggesting there probably are other factors that also pushed Newey to leave.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd May 2024, 3:39
As far as newey himself said in the article, he only talked positively about horner, and horner about him, so I won’t believe any speculation until there’s proof.
High Chaparral
1st May 2024, 13:32
The only diminished person here is Horner, who has managed to blow apart a team of historic success because he couldn’t keep his libido in check.
David BR (@david-br)
1st May 2024, 16:44
How many times does it need repeating, there were and are three parties: Horner, the employee and whoever decided to leak the internal investigation and use it as leverage to oust Horner. I don’t see Newey as diminished at all, the complete opposite in fact. He clearly wants to focus on engineering and racing, not internal politics, and possibly felt that all his hard work and brilliance and the success it brought – was being exploited and thrown away. He seems to be the only one emerging well from this fracas.
AlexS
1st May 2024, 22:00
Who says it is because of Horner? If anything he even calls him friend of the family.
But as expected the progressive journalists went with political angle.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd May 2024, 3:40
Exactly, that’s what I thought as well, absolute speculation at this point, it disagrees with what the article says.
Nick T.
2nd May 2024, 0:54
I’m sure many bitter Max fans who don’t have a clue as to his motivations will say some variation of this. I doubt he’d have talked about Horner so much if he was the primary source of his unhappiness.
Laughing orc
1st May 2024, 13:22
Quite the opposite I’d say. It shows he has some principles, and one way to make his voice extremely easily heard is to step away from the team he’s brought so much success over the years. It’s more infantile of Red Bull to have not handled the matter better.
I’d be handing in the towel if my employer had handled an investigation in this manner.
David BR (@david-br)
1st May 2024, 16:44
+1
SteveP
2nd May 2024, 13:10
Absolutely. Principles.
My wife’s description of her impression of Newey:
“Rather like an old school, English gentleman – politely walk away publicly, having privately told them what they did wrong”
It would astonish me if anyone ever got told the full story, it’s just not cricket.
Oxnard (@montalvo)
1st May 2024, 13:42
I suspect he’ll go to Mercedes. It’s the one team that will give him an offer he simply can not refuse, as they are currently pushing below their weight. That will also likely open the way for Verstappen to join Mercedes in 2026. It’ll allow Newey to stay in Britain and likely bring some people he wants in his team.
I don’t really see Ferrari happening, not if he goes there alone, as it is such a different dynamic then the British based teams, it’ll be a big culture shock. I doubt he’ll be able to shove out Italian engineers and replace them with people he wants in his team. The language barrier, the stressy Italians, I think it’ll only work if a complete package moved with him, similar to Schumachers transfer to Ferrari. However, he’d need Verstappen to bring other key players, so I do not see it working out.
MacLeod (@macleod)
1st May 2024, 13:56
I think he goes to Ferrari Mercedes would be great but a comment of Adrian himself said he wouldn’t like to work for Toto…
David BR (@david-br)
1st May 2024, 16:39
@macleod Mercedes are on a downward spiral. Sure Newey could try turning that round. But Ferrari has romance, two fantastic drivers, Vasseur looking like he’s in sound control and good financial/director backing. Mercedes would be meh. Then again, depends on contracts and cash too I guess.
Ben
1st May 2024, 18:27
I actually see Aston as a strong option. Lawrence won’t be shy when it comes to money and he’s worked with them before on the Valkyrie. If we’re going to go really crazy, Lawrence could see this as his time to shine to drop Lance and try tempt Verstappen too. Aston with Newey, Alonso and Verstappen could be a genuine possibility if Redbull implodes.
Ferrari has the history, glamour and could be a lifelong dream for Newey. So I see it being between those two.
I honestly don’t see Mercedes as an option. They are a solid midfield team now sadly on the way down rather than up.
Applebook
1st May 2024, 23:33
Yeah, I’m sure the Adrian is excited to build a car for Lance Stroll and blackmailer Alonso, who will be a geriatric by 2026.
Brian (@bealzbob)
1st May 2024, 14:09
Thankfully doesn’t sound like he has to do the year and a half’s gardening leave that was being mooted by some sources. I’m sure Red Bull can’t wait to be going up against him :D
baasbas
1st May 2024, 14:09
I already had high hopes on the ’26 reset. I’m guessing the RBR-Ford engines will be ‘suboptimal’ from the start and with Verstappen locked in RBR we were in for a new WDC anyway. But with this news, now ’25 will be interesting too. If he chooses to stay in F1 then surely he’d fancy a go at Aston Martin. New facilities, the Honda engine and a world class driver… And Alonso too
;-)
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
1st May 2024, 15:17
That would be the most exciting news ever! And contrary to Ferrari Aston Martin is based in the UK, I don’t know where Newey lives but it could play a part as we’ve seen already with Allison.
olpeculier (@olpeculier)
1st May 2024, 14:57
I’d love it if he moved to the FIA and worked on the next set of regulations. Poacher turned gamekeeper! Salary probably wouldn’t come anywhere close to what the teams will be offering him though.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
1st May 2024, 14:58
I think he’s off to Ferrari, but hasn’t signed anything yet because they can’t get their new HP printer to work.
Mog
1st May 2024, 16:24
Thats alright, there is probably a printer at the local post office
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd May 2024, 3:45
Guess that’s why the announcement didn’t come yet, it’ll be a few days.
Boomerang
1st May 2024, 18:06
What printer???
Pjotr (@pietkoster)
1st May 2024, 16:31
Why should Newey leave a succesfull F1 team to join an unsuccesfull team? If it doesn’t work you’re reputation is damaged. The same thing is on the horizon for Hamilton as driver. Better just retire from the team and go do something as a hobby. Develop a hypercar f.i.
David BR (@david-br)
1st May 2024, 16:36
@pietkoster Button made the point that Alonso has maintained his level because of the challenges he’s posed himself over his career. And suggests Hamilton could be doing the same. Likewise Newey perhaps. Up to him. But he and his team made that Red Bull success. It’s more likely to leave with him than stay.
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
1st May 2024, 17:34
I’ve always thought the same, when you’re at the top there’s really no reason to go back on your steps. It used to be that way with drivers, but lately even world champions become backmarkers before retiring.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd May 2024, 3:46
Well, they still get decent amounts of money and for example raikkonen loved driving, was no longer good enough for ferrari, or he was but there was leclerc looming, so rather than retired he preferred a backmarker car.
David BR (@david-br)
1st May 2024, 16:34
A personal note notable for its big omission: Marko.
This should put rest to the idea of some (many perhaps) that he left because of Christian Horner himself, not because of third-party exploitation of the internal Horner investigation in a very public manner for internal political/economic reasons. If so, then he’s unlikely to be moving anywhere that involves those responsible for trying to split a team at the very top of Formula 1. I guess whether he stays in Formula 1 depends on how much enjoyment he thinks he’d get out of designing another car, the stability of the prospective team (and immunity to similar infighting), the talent of its drivers and whether, maybe, he might like to prove a point to those who’ve been trying to oust CH at Red Bull (who might well end up leaving now too).
MichaelN
1st May 2024, 17:26
He could also just be naming the owners and his direct superior, which in his senior role is only the team principal. Marko is the driver guy, he’s neither paying Newey nor is Newey reporting to him. He’s not even really in the same organisation. It might even be a bit odd if he was named. He also doesn’t mention Pierre Waché with whom he probably works daily, nor any of the drivers of the cars.
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
1st May 2024, 16:58
Sorry – a little late to this, but this could be a retirement, after all he has commissioned a yacht that should be delivered this year? https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/news/formula-one-red-bull-adrian-newey-oyster-885
bull mello (@bullmello)
1st May 2024, 17:18
Goodspeed Adrian Newey!
Best wishes whichever way you go.
Boomerang
1st May 2024, 18:07
The juiciest choice would be Audi.
bull mello (@bullmello)
1st May 2024, 21:41
That would be good.
Or, Ferrari or Aston Martin.
Maybe Andretti!
Dick Dawson
1st May 2024, 18:27
This is why Fernando stopped talking and signed up. He knows Newey isn’t leaving the UK and is heading to AM.
Applebook
1st May 2024, 23:39
No one else wants Alonso. Why would they? He’s well over 40 and every other driver on the grid except Max are not good enough to win a championship without the best car. If you can build the best car, then why would you need a poison like Alonso, the guy who screwed Ferrari and Mclaren twice?
Frasier (@frasier)
2nd May 2024, 9:55
Good call. Alonso was close to a 3rd WDC in a Newey designed car in 2007. Imagine how it would be for Adrian to help Fernando to that elusive title after nearly 20 years competing in cars designed by ‘the rest’.
dot_com (@dot_com)
2nd May 2024, 13:29
Aren’t you forgetting about the rising talent of his rookie team mate Lance Stroll? It could go down to the wire between the two of them :-/
Frasier (@frasier)
2nd May 2024, 14:17
Haha. Actually Lance isn’t the ‘complete’ pay driver that some make him out to be, he occasionally surprises us.
SteveP
2nd May 2024, 15:26
Not as close as Hamilton was to a first – in his rookie year, no less.
Dale
3rd May 2024, 18:15
Instead of gardening leave he’ll do some time at Red Bull KTM MotoGP, and some at Red Bull Alingi … then he’ll be off to Audi F1.