Newey’s Red Bull F1 departure set to be imminent
Newey’s Red Bull F1 departure set to be imminent
If Newey ends up at Ferrari in time to design their 2026 car, Hamilton has either lucked into a second stunning career move or he's known all along...
You know not all of Neweys cars were quick, right?
Of course, but his cars have won around 40% of all WDC over the past 30ish years, and his record around major new aero regulations is exceptional:
- 1998: Two back-to-back WDC from first season
- 2009: Four back-to-back WDC from second season
- 2022: Two (soon to be three) back-to-back WDC from first season
End of an era, whether he retires or moves.
Remember that teams will only be allowed to work on their 2026 car from the start of 2025 and new regulations aren't even finalized. Red Bull will be developing the aero without Newey, and are working on the new engine without Honda. Some exciting times coming, hopefully.
Remember that teams will only be allowed to work on their 2026 car from the start of 2025
Genuine question: how is this even policed? You can't stop people from thinking about solutions already.
No, you can't stop engineers from testing aero in their heads, but I would imagine teams are required to keep logs and documentation of development work/wind tunnel time/computer simulations for FIA to inspect at any time. It's nothing new either, each team has a wind tunnel time and CFD allocation per season, and there's no development allowed over the summer break. I suppose in the end you have to trust that FIA is enforcing these rules properly, but you can never know for sure.
If Newey chooses Ferrari and wins a championship with them he will be treated like a king. They will appreciate his efforts and will treat him with all the respect and gratitude he deserves. It would be a fitting final legacy for a stellar career. The toughest challenge.
Why would you say that and give me hope?
With all this mess at Red Bull (power struggle, Horner's escapade, Newey leaving, Max probably leaving soonish) i really wonder if Ford still wants to work together with Red Bull.
Well Ford was very unhappy with how the Horner investigation went. But in the end they'd just put their logo on a RB engine anyways, so it's not like they're closely working together or somerhing.
Newey leaving
In his book he mentions that the team is really important. He wants to have the ability to be able to determine how a team works. Ensure that people can speak up, not too much politics, etc.
Pretty sure the power struggles together with Honer resulted in Newey deciding this will impact making a good car.
He left a team ages ago because they didn't inform him about some driver thing. Him leaving now should not come as a surprise.
This is corroborated by multiple media, including Autosport, BBC, Motorsport-Total, etc. Newey will be gone from Red Bull at the start of 2025, maybe even earlier than that. All modalities (gardening leave?) have been agreed on, though they arent public yet. Red Bull will announce the departure at the start of the Miami weekend.
[Andrew Benson from BBC]: "He (Adrian Newey) has been made offers by Ferrari and Aston Martin. I’m told by sources close to him that he is seriously considering Ferrari but is not interested in going to Aston Martin."
people talking about him moving to another team for 2025 or 2026. But isn't there something in the contract that prevents him from working for another team for a few years?
I saw multiple answers on that. One said that the garden leave could start immediately. Then the non compete would start now instead of when his contract ends. Though another said that a non compete would only begin when his contract ends.
Anyway, I guess one answer is right. 😂
Well supposedly there also was something in his contract that said he was to work at RBR for the 2025 season, and he managed to cut that short.. so who knows
So what is happening with Horner? Are they investigating him still?