Red Bull Responds To Speculations About Adrian Newey's Departure

F1
Thursday, 25 April 2024 at 21:45
adrian newey redbull rbcp4
Red Bull Racing issued a response to growing speculation about the potential departure of their chief technical officer, Adrian Newey.
Though multiple members of the Red Bull Racing team have emphasized that their current car isn't purely Adrian Newey's work, it is still suggested that the 65-year-old played an essential role in the design of RB20.
Newey has been a big part of Red Bull's recent success, from 2021 until now and also in the years 2010-2013. However, on 25 April, reports from multiple reliable and reputable newspapers started suggesting the British engineer was no longer interested in continuing his work with the team from Milton Keynes.
Apparently, the chief technical officer isn't happy with the internal struggle still taking place within the Austrian team and is about to announce his departure soon. Sky Sports's Craig Slater, who claims to be in contact with multiple Red Bull insiders, said:

"Multiple senior figures [in F1] I've spoken to have expressed to me that there is discontentment with Adrian Newey and that he is certainly considering bringing his time at Red Bull to an end."

While something is definitely going on, Red Bull said in their statement to Slater that they are unaware of any "official" communication from Newey concerning potential departure.

"I have been in touch via official channels with the Red Bull Team themselves and they have explained to me that they are unaware of any official communication from Adrian Newey notifying of his intention to serve notice and to leave Red Bull Racing with whom he has an association for pretty much almost the last 20 years."

Although there has been no official communication yet, Sky Sports understands (communicated through social media) that Newey has already made the decision to leave Red Bull Racing. Slater added:

"His contractual situation is that he has contracted at Red Bull Racing until the end of 2025 and as I understand it would have to serve another year of gardening leave where Red Bull to holds him to the full extent of his contract, which would mean he would not be able to work work for another Formula 1 team until 2027."

Christian Horner lately said there is no point in making someone stay inside his team if it's against their will, so it will be interesting to see how Red Bull reacts once Newey's departure is officially announced.