In recent years, this rumor has often been categorized as the most classic of fake news about Formula 1. Adrian Newey has been linked to almost every team in the Circus throughout his time at Red Bull, but this time the certainty was that it wouldn’t be a false story.
His future remains uncertain, and it will primarily be up to him to decide what to do with his life: whether to embrace a new project and battle on the track with his own creation, dedicate himself to projects outside of F1, or head towards a well-deserved retirement.
However, today, there’s the historic announcement that after nearly 20 years of collaboration, Adrian Newey and the Milton Keynes team are parting ways at the beginning of 2025.
Adrian Newey’s story begins long before Red Bull was born. The team led by Christian Horner wasn’t even an idea when the genius from Stratford-upon-Avon had his first encounter with the world of four-wheeled motorsport.
It’s curious to note that he shares his birthplace with William Shakespeare, two geniuses in their respective fields and passions. Born in 1958, Newey attended Repton School before obtaining a degree in aeronautical and aerospace engineering from the University of Southampton in 1980.
His first foray into F1 came immediately after completing his studies with the ‘Fittipaldi Automotive team, followed by joining the March group.
Before his involvement in F1, the engineer had worked in minor categories and other series, such as the American CART, with remarkable and even winning results where his contribution was already significant.
His name in F1 became prominent with the projects in March, before it became Leyton House in 1990, where Adrian Newey was immediately appointed Technical Director.
Given the significant results and aerodynamic innovations brought to motorsport, the interest from top teams became strong immediately, leading Williams to recruit him as Chief Designer from 1991 to 1996.
This was followed by an eight-year stint at McLaren before the advent of Red Bull Racing, led by Christian Horner, who convinced him to embark on a new adventure, a leap into the unknown that proved triumphant.
Throughout his long career in F1, the cars designed by Adrian Newey have clinched 12 Constructors’ World Championships: 5 with Williams, 1 with McLaren, and 6 with the Milton Keynes team.
In all these cases, Drivers’ World Championships were also added, along with the two won individually in 1999 with Mika Hakkinen and in 2021 with Max Verstappen.
His contribution to these achievements is recognized globally, both internally and outside the team, and over the years Christian Horner has had to work multiple times to keep his star engineer within the team.
Adrian Newey himself has spoken about the various offers received over the years, including one from Ferrari, which he was close to on two occasions.
Still, he always declined, either because of the impossibility of moving to Maranello, wanting to stay close to his family with younger children at the time, or because he found his dimension in Red Bull.
Last Wednesday, April 24, Newey was in Milton Keynes and had a meeting with Horner. The following day, the first rumors about the designer’s departure from Red Bull began to circulate, which then found increasingly unofficial confirmations.
As known, what led the British designer to this drastic decision were particularly the tensions that erupted within the team starting from last February when the internal investigation into Horner’s alleged “inappropriate” conduct towards an employee emerged.
Although the investigation ended with the dismissal of the complaint filed by the woman, the two factions that arose within the team after Dietrich Mateschitz’s passing in October 2022 – the Thai faction aligned with Horner and the Austrian one – increasingly escalated their internal warfare without any holds barred.
The toxic environment created, incredibly in contrast with the excellent results achieved on the track, prompted Newey to end his long experience at Red Bull.
