Adrian Newey has reportedly enlisted the help of his lawyers in the dispute as he attempts to leave Red Bull Racing before his contract expires.
Renowned F1 designer Adrian Newey is reportedly in talks over leaving Red Bull, giving him the opportunity to sign a contract with another team in the first half of 2025, according to BBC Sport.
This comes after rumors surfaced last week claiming that Newey was set to leave the Milton-Keynes outfit after his obvious unhappiness with the team—more specifically, after the Christian Horner controversy that took over headlines at the beginning of the season.
Horner was accused of inappropriate behaviour by a female colleague which was dismissed following an investigation but the complainant recently appealed the outcome.
The 65-year-old now appears to be ready for a new challenge and his current Red Bull contract signed last year will be his last. A Red Bull spokesperson, when contacted by Mirror Sport last week, said: “Adrian is contracted until at least the end of 2025 and we are unaware of him joining any other team.”
The chief technology officer of the reigning world champions is believed to have explained his decision in a letter and made a statement indicating the announcement would be made ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.
Newey’s role as chief technical officer runs until the end of 2025 and is said to be subject to a 12-month “non-compete clause,” which hinders him from joining another team until 2027. However, according to Andrew Benson, Newey’s lawyers are currently trying to get him out of there early which violates the clause.
If his legal representatives prevail, Newey would be able to sign with other teams before the 2026 rules take effect and he would have the freedom to work on the 2026 car for any team he join.
Newey’s departure from Red Bull raises the question of what comes next for the creative genius. According to earlier rumors, Aston Martin and Ferrari had made offers to secure him.
Fernando Alonso has been signed by Aston Martin to a multi-year contract as they work to build a championship-winning squad and Newey is reported to have received the same contract offer from the team, which is overseen by Lawrence Stroll.
But if Newey joined Ferrari, they would have an extremely powerful team with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton as their driver starting in 2025. According to PlanetF1, Newey previously declared, “Ferrari is this magic brand,” suggesting that he could possibly join the Scuderia.
Other options could include Mercedes and McLaren. As for Mercedes, Toto Wolff has not been shy about expressing interest in Max Verstappen to replace Hamilton. In New York on Monday, the Mercedes Team Principal said:
“Adrian Newey is an iconic engineer in F1 with a great track record and again also there are so many people talking about what he eventually might do and whether he leaves Red Bull or not.
“I’m just looking at it like a fan and watching that space.”
Zak Brown, McLaren’s CEO has said before that “Adrian is a good friend and clearly the most successful designer of all time.” Newey has also previously worked at McLaren in his Formula One career, but Brown made it clear that McLaren “have a plan in place” and he is “extremely happy” with it.
Adrian Newey left McLaren to join Red Bull in 2006 and since then he has designed amazing cars, such as the ones that have helped Max Verstappen dominate F1 after the new rules took effect. Red Bull and Newey have secured seven drivers’ championships and six constructors’ championships together.
