Adrian Newey Responds To Freshly Announced Departure From Red Bull Racing

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 at 13:00

Adrian Newey issued a long response in relation to his future departure from the Red Bull Racing F1 team.

Numerous speculations emerged last week suggesting the chief technical officer, Adrian Newey, was fed up with the situation inside the team and wanted out.

The 65-year-old initially informed the team leaders about his departure informally, but he reportedly handed in a formal resignation on Monday, April 29th.

On May 1, 2024, at 9 AM GMT, Red Bull officially announced the departure of the legendary car designer who had been with their team for almost 20 years since 2006.

The chief technical officer himself was quoted in the statement with a lengthy response to the announcement. He 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."

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"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."

Newey essentially helped Red Bull go from a "party team" (which was their reputation when they entered F1) to a championship-winning team that achieved the most dominant season in F1.

The official announcement suggested he would leave in the first quarter of the 2025 season. From what he wrote, it seems the 65-year-old won't take part in further development of Red Bull's F1 cars and will focus purely on his RB17 project.

"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."

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Newey added he believes the team is very well-equipped to continue the great work without his presence. While it was suggested Christian Horner was the number one reason for his exit, he also thanked the team principal, amongst other key people:

"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."

Another critical point in the 65-year-old's departure was whether he would be given gardening leave or whether he could join another F1 team immediately after his departure.

It is understood that his gardening leave from the racing team starts now, and he will be a free agent in the first quarter of 2025.