Last week Red Bull Racing announced the departure of designer Adrian Newey. The 65-year-old Briton has since been linked with various teams, such as Ferrari and Aston Martin, but explains in Miami that at the moment he mainly wants to enjoy some free time.
Newey started in Formula 1 at Williams in 1991. Via McLaren he finally arrived at Red Bull Racing in 2005. At the time it was still a start-up team led by Christian Horner. Success followed a few years later with Sebastian Vettel who won four world titles in a row. After a lean period, in which the power unit in particular was a limiting factor, the next dominant period came in 2021, but with Max Verstappen as leader.
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Battle of attrition
To the question Sky Sports F1 why Newey chose this moment to say goodbye, he explains: “Formula 1 takes up all your time. The 2021 season was very intense, when we fought with Mercedes for the title and at the same time we were developing the RB18, the father of the current car. There finally came a point, as Forrest Gump said: I feel a little exhausted.” Although the news came as a surprise to the outside world, Newey himself had been considering saying goodbye to the premier class for some time. “Actually during the winter break.” In addition, Newey also seems to hint at the power struggle: “But also how things unfolded this year, then I thought: I am in a privileged position, I don’t have to work to live and I can enjoy life now and take a step back.”
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Future plans
The Briton says he just wants to travel around a bit at the moment. “I will probably travel with the dogs and my wife. With a motorhome through France and enjoy life. Maybe there will come a point when I stand in the conservatory and say: this will be the new adventure for me, but at the moment there is no plan.” Lewis Hamilton indicated at the press conference in Miami that he would like to welcome Newey to Ferrari next year. “That’s very nice of Lewis to say, but at the moment I’m going to take a break and then see what happens,” said Newey, who does not rule out a return to Formula 1.
