Red Bull announces that Adrian Newey, the renowned Formula 1 design specialist, will be leaving the team in 2025. As the team’s technical director, Newey will step back from his F1 design responsibilities this year to focus on the Red Bull RB17 hypercar project. Red Bull has expressed that Newey will remain involved and committed to the hypercar project until its completion. Newey will also participate in specific races to support the team on-site during the remainder of the season before his departure in the first quarter of next year.
Having joined Red Bull in 2006, Newey played a crucial role in transforming the team from an underdog to one of the dominant forces in Formula 1. The team has secured consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ titles during the current era of F1’s ground effect, and they are on track to continue this success in 2024. However, the confirmation of Newey’s departure follows a week of speculations about conflicts and issues that have proven irreconcilable.
One of the concerns raised is that Newey feels his contribution to Red Bull’s success has been undervalued by the team. Additionally, there is a suggestion that he did not want to be taken away from F1 to work exclusively on the RB17 hypercar project. These concerns were initially addressed a year ago when a new agreement was reached to extend his contract beyond 2023. However, recent controversies involving team principal Christian Horner and ongoing power struggles within Red Bull seem to have reignited Newey’s discontent.
Red Bull acknowledges that Newey’s vision and technical leadership have been instrumental to their success in Formula 1. With drivers like Max Verstappen, the team has won seven drivers’ titles and six constructors’ titles. They also became the fifth team in F1 history to reach 100 victories in Canada last June and have only been defeated in two Grand Prix races since then.
Newey has expressed that this is an opportune moment to pass the baton to others and seek new challenges. He extends his gratitude to the talented people he has worked with at Red Bull over the past 18 years and expresses confidence in the engineering team’s readiness for the final evolution of the car under current regulations.
In response to Newey’s departure, Christian Horner, the team principal, expresses eternal gratitude for everything Newey has contributed to their partnership. Horner credits Newey’s exceptional ability to think beyond F1 and draw inspiration from various sources for the design of their Grand Prix cars. He also acknowledges Newey’s talent for adapting to changes and finding areas within the rules that offer the greatest rewards. Horner believes that Newey’s relentless pursuit of victory has propelled Red Bull Racing to a level that not even the late Dietrich Mateschitz, co-founder of the company, could have predicted.
