Top designer Newey leaves Red Bull

Things had taken on a life of their own again, as usual in Formula 1. Those involved had not planned to disrupt and stir up the industry on May 1st, the day on which they commemorate the icon Ayrton Senna. But that’s how it happened.

At Florida’s southern tip it was one minute after five in the morning when industry leader Red Bull announced shortly before the Grand Prix in Miami this weekend: Adrian Newey is leaving the world champion team in 2025 – after 19 years. The Spiritus rector has had enough. According to the announcement, Newey will travel to a few races this year “to support the team”.

From now on, however, Newey will mainly devote himself to the hypercar sports car project before he and Red Bull part ways “in the first quarter of 2025”. He thinks, as the Bulletin quotes the previous head of the technology department, that it is the right time to “hand over the baton to others.”

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There had been recurring speculation that this could happen since the internal power struggle escalated at the beginning of the season, the focus of which is still team boss Christian Horner. The accusation that Horner behaved inappropriately towards his former personal assistant has not gone away. There is no evidence that Newey is leaving because of this. The fact that the woman who made the allegations against Horner was also Newey’s assistant could indicate this.

Where is Newey moving to? And when?

Only last May, the 65-year-old Newey extended his contract with Red Bull until the end of 2025. He was largely responsible for the fact that the team produced the drivers’ world champion seven times with the racing vehicles he invented and secured the constructors’ title six times. It can be assumed that Newey is now not thinking about fly fishing or growing roses and is following in the footsteps of former Ferrari mastermind Ross Brawn when, according to the Bulletin, he will look for “new challenges”. The two key questions are: Where is Newey moving to? And when?

He will be able to freely choose his new employer because every opponent has to want him. If only to prevent competitors from getting hold of your services. According to the “Gazzetta dello Sport” from Milan, Newey and Ferrari are largely in agreement. Aston Martin, previously considered a possible destination for Newey, only seems to have an outside chance. On Tuesday evening, the paper reports, Newey had dinner in London with Ferrari team boss Frédéric Vasseur. It is therefore “likely” that the deal will become official after the Miami weekend.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if Newey gave that prancing Horse, which in comparison to the red bull recently appeared so often like a rocking horse, the spurs so that it could make the leap to the top? Newey recently regretted in a podcast that he had never been able to work with Lewis Hamilton. That would have been “fabulous”. Now the opportunity seems good, Hamilton is moving to Scuderia in 2025.

At first glance, that would be a coup for Ferrari and, from a marketing point of view, also for the Formula 1 marketers: the best-known brand, the most successful helmsman and the most gifted designer combined in red. A constellation that could be expected to change the balance of power in Formula 1 to turn your head.

However, this would not be a sure-fire success. Whoever manages to secure Newey’s services for several million euros a year runs the risk of using him incorrectly. Newey, the genius, is perhaps the most sophisticated designer Formula 1 has ever seen. But Newey is not someone who oversees and approves every step of the work on a permanent basis. Technical director Pierre Waché has long since taken over tasks from Newey.

He lets his creative energy flow when necessary, throws in ideas and inspires the army of bright minds to achieve top performance. At the same time, Newey outshines all the other capable engineers in the racing team. Waché himself is said to have flirted with a move to Ferrari in order to escape the gigantic shadow. The change of location is also explosive. On the one hand, British Formula 1 employees have always been reluctant to move to Italy. It doesn’t seem plausible that Ferrari would let Newey work from England.

It is unclear when Newey will be allowed to take a new job. Transfer bans of one year are common for senior executives in the industry. Then Newey would not be able to move until 2027 and would be 68 years old. But as the BBC reports, the lawyers are already taking care of it.

Newey’s departure could now lead to new upheavals at Red Bull, even though he had recently given up many tasks in the team. The loss of the top designer could also make Verstappen, who is particularly courted by Mercedes, think about a change.