Martin Brundle, the former Formula 1 driver turned pundit, has highlighted four teams with the capacity to pursue Adrian Newey as a valuable asset.
Newey, set to become a free agent in early 2025 following his departure from Red Bull, has garnered significant attention due to Red Bull’s dominance in the F1 ground effect era.
Brundle emphasized that Newey’s expertise is not a universal solution for success in any team. Only those equipped with the necessary resources to leverage his innovations will truly benefit. He identified Mercedes, Aston Martin, McLaren, and Ferrari as the front-runners in this regard.
Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Brundle remarked, “You’ve got to have a lot of money and a lot of resource or there’s no point having Adrian Newey.” This underscores the crucial role that financial backing and organizational infrastructure play in maximizing Newey’s potential impact.
“If you sit him in an office, but you don’t have the goods around him and the funds to use his ideas, then there’s no point.
“All the teams are like, ‘No, no, we’re really happy as we are thank you very much.’ A because they might not get him and B, because they don’t want to upset the team they’ve already got in place.
“But clearly, Mercedes, Aston Martin, McLaren, Ferrari, will be looking and trying to get [Newey] somehow.
“Because it’s a double-edged sword. If you can get Adrian’s experience and skills, then you’ve got him and somebody else doesn’t have him. So they’ll all be trying like crazy. If they’re not, they should be.”
The possibility of Adrian Newey engaging in another Formula 1 project hinges on his own inclinations. While he hasn’t ruled out a return to the series, he presently lacks concrete intentions for one.
Despite this uncertainty, Martin Brundle remains optimistic about Newey’s future involvement in Formula 1. Brundle sees the upcoming 2026 regulations as tailor-made for Newey’s expertise, stating, “The new 2026 regulations have got Adrian written all over them.”
When questioned about Newey’s continuation in the sport, Brundle expressed confidence in his persistence: “I think he will. I think he’s a competitive animal.” This sentiment reflects Brundle’s belief in Newey’s enduring passion for competition.
“He’s a friend of mine and Adrian’s a man of great principle, but I think he’ll get a little bit bored, yeah.
“I mean, when you think Rory Byrne still has a contract with Ferrari at 80 years old, based in Thailand or somewhere.
“The 2026 regulations have got Adrian written all over them in terms of acing the complex active aerodynamics. But that’s not to downplay all the other people, Pierre Wache [Red Bull technical director] and there’s a lot of very clever people around.
“The first grand prix I did, there were 12 people on the call sheet, including Ken and Norah Tyrrell and the two drivers. So that meant there were eight people running two Formula 1 cars. And I think Mercedes just announced their results that they have just under 1300 people in the team.
“So, there’s a lot of people around and it’s wrong to say one person can make the difference. But I’ll guarantee that along the way, Adrian just tipped a couple of things in and came up with some ideas that made the difference. Just the experience and the nous and the sort of feel for what you need.
“I would be surprised if, down the road, he doesn’t have some kind of affiliation with a Formula 1 team. I’d be amazed in fact.”
Following his departure from the Red Bull Formula 1 team, Adrian Newey will shift his attention towards the RB17 hypercar until his departure is formally confirmed.
