After a long and drawn out media frenzy. Red Bull has confirmed that legendary car designer Adrian Newey will step down from the Formula 1 team in Q1 of 2025. The move comes after Red Bull have decided to invest in a World Endurance Championship Hypercar program. Newey will be responsible for leading the design of the RB17 Hypercar with Red Bull making a bid for endurance racing. Despite previous reports of a gardening leave clause in Newey’s contract. It appears that Newey will be free to shop teams as he wishes in 2025.
Will Newey Continue Working?
Having spent the last 19 years with Red Bull and the next year helping Red Bull develop their RB17 Hypercar design questions have been raised as to whether Newey may be considering retirement. Newey is 65 years old and has hinted at permanent retirement in previous contract negotiations. Given that he will be exiting in 2025 for Newey to have any kind of impact on a new team he really would need to commit for 3-4 years given the changes in the technical regulations set for the 2026 season.
Newey has been linked with moves to multiple teams in the paddock all willing to pay top dollar for his expertise. The question will be if Newey is wanting to take on a new project. He’s made it clear that money is not a motivator in his decision. This could be the last time we see Newey in F1.
Newey Shares his Thoughts
In a press release from Red Bull Newey said, “Ever since I was a young boy, I wanted to be a designer of fast cars. My dream was to be an engineer in Formula One, and I’ve been lucky enough to make that dream a reality. For almost two decades it has been my great honour to have played a key role in Red Bull Racing’s progress from upstart newcomer to multiple title-winning Team.
However, I feel now is an opportune moment to hand that baton over to others and to seek new challenges for myself. In the interim, the final stages of development of RB17 are upon us, so for the remainder of my time with the Team my focus will lie there. I would like to thank the many amazing people I have worked with at Red Bull in our journey over the last 18 years for their talent, dedication and hard work.
It has been a real privilege, and I am confident that the engineering Team are well prepared for the work going into the final evolution of the car under the four-year period of this regulation set. On a personal note, I would also like to thank the shareholders, the late Dietrich Mateschitz, Mark Mateschitz and Chalerm Yoovidhya for their unwavering support during my time at Red Bull, and Christian, who has not only been my business partner but also a friend of our respective families. Also, thanks to Oliver Mintzlaff for his stewardship and Eddie Jordan, my close friend and manager.”
Christian Horner Offer His Thoughts on Newey’s Red Bull Legacy
Horner said, “All of our greatest moments from the past 20 years have come with Adrian’s hand on the technical tiller. His vision and brilliance have helped us to 13 titles in 20 seasons. His exceptional ability to conceptualize beyond F1 and bring wider inspiration to bear on the design of grand prix cars, his remarkable talent for embracing change and finding the most rewarding areas of the rules to focus on, and his relentless will to win have helped Red Bull Racing to become a greater force than I think even the late Dietrich Mateschitz might have imagined.”