Formula 1 design legend Adrian Newey is set to leave Red Bull Racing despite being under contract until the end of the 2025 season, according to reports by a number of reputable F1 publications.
BBC Sport, which says it has “independently verified” the rumors “with high-level sources close to Red Bull and Newey,” cites the sexual harassment allegations against team principal Christian Horner as the reason for Newey’s impending departure.
Before the start of the 2024 season, the team had cleared Horner of inappropriate behavior after an internal investigation, but just hours after the announcement, several alleged messages between Horner and the female employee who had accused him of wrongdoing surfaced online. Jos Verstappen’s statement that Horner ought to step down did nothing to quell the impression of a power struggle within the team, with the Thai faction reportedly taking Horner’s side and the Austrian faction, led by Red Bull GmbH and motorsports adviser Helmut Marko, wanting him out of the squad.
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Newey joined Red Bull Racing as chief technical officer in 2006 and has since produced seven championship-winning cars for the Milton Keynes squad, with only one failing to win the constructors’ title. Prior to that, his cars had won drivers’ and constructors’ championships for Williams and McLaren, as well as the CART series (the precursor to IndyCar) and the Indianapolis 500.
To this day, he still uses a traditional drawing board, explaining in a 2023 interview: “I’m kind of the last dinosaur in Formula 1 that’s still using a drawing board, but for me, it’s what I grew up on, so it’s like my first language. If I went to a CAD system, I feel like it would always be my second language. I wouldn’t be able to work as freely and easily.”
Given his proven track record, Newey remains highly regarded in the F1 paddock, with Ferrari and Aston Martin said to have sent him offers even before this latest development. While he has yet to release an official statement on his plans, his departure from Red Bull Racing would surely shake up the driver market, especially if defending champ Max Verstappen decided there would be no point in staying after such a major change in the senior management.
