Adrian Newey has revealed when and why he decided to leave Red Bull Racing after nearly two decades of unparalleled success.
The incoming Aston Martin F1 designer has shared some more details about his choice to leave the Milton Keynes outfit, admitting he made up his mind during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend in April.
The announcement of Adrian Newey’s move to Aston Martin as its Managing Technical Director on a multi-year deal sent shockwaves through the Formula 1 community, as the design genius has been a pivotal figure in Red Bull’s rise from a midfield team to a dominant force in the sport.
The 65-year old’s departure, set for early 2025, marks the end of an era for Red Bull and the beginning of a new chapter after an 18-year tenure with the energy drinks manufacturer.
Newey’s journey with Red Bull began in 2006 and during his tenure has designed all of the team’s championship-winning cars. His engineering prowess has earned him a reputation as one of the most successful designers in the history of Formula 1, with a total of 25 championship titles to his name.
However, after years of dedication and hard work, Newey has expressed a desire to seek new challenges and step back from the intense demands of Formula 1. In a recent interview he revealed that he made the decision to leave Red Bull during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend in April 2024.
“I decided to stop at Red Bull, which was kind of really over the Suzuka weekend back in April,” Newey revealed. “Then genuinely had no idea what would be next.
“Just wanted to have a blank mind, kind of take stock, enjoy a bit of a break and was hoping that standing in the shower somewhere, the spark would come of, ‘yep, this should be the direction’.
“Mandy [Newey’s wife] was a big part of that as well, of our discussions and what should we do. So, yeah, I think kind of come late June, let’s say certainly, then I felt actually, you know what, it’s what I’ve ever, to be involved as a designer in motor racing, has been my ambition since the age of 10 or so.
“I’ve been lucky enough to achieve that. I think it would be an exaggeration to say I’ve enjoyed every single day of my career, but well over 90% has been hugely enjoyable.
“I still love the challenge of trying to add performance to the car. That’s my kind of prime motivation. That’s what gets me up in the morning.
“And I think then if you’re going to work, I think what’s amazing about technical sport, if you like, so by technical sport I mean that combination of man and machine, then you have that immediate feedback of how you’re doing.
“It can be painful of course when you’re doing badly, but you have that feedback.
“If I compare that back to lots of my friends who I still keep in contact with from university, from my aeronautics course, then they went to work for British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce engines and so forth and they had no feedback.
“So I think I’ve chose well, if you like, to work in this.”
Newey almost quit Red Bull earlier on several occasions, most notably in 2014 when he lost interest in the race due to an underperforming Renault engine. He turned down Ferrari’s offer following the team’s brilliant choice to work with Aston Martin on the Valkyrie hypercar, which the design genius was given the task of developing.
Red Bull has secured every championship since the sport switched to ground effect in 2022, so according to Newey, this is the ideal time to take on a new challenge with Aston Martin.
“It’s well known in 2014 with the hybrid engine, we were in a position where we didn’t have a very competitive PU and with no light at the end of the tunnel,” he added. “That’s when I felt I needed something else to kind of also be involved in, which of course became Valkyrie.
“Once we got the Honda PU, it was a very different position and so then I got back involved on the Formula 1 side with the 16, I think it was 14, 15, 16, 16B and then the 18 and so forth.
“But certainly it’s now a very mature team, so I felt able to, once we got through the peak of designing the research and design of the 22 car, the big regulation change car, to step back a little bit because the 23 and this year’s car are very much evolutions of that first 22 car.
“But this is something different, it’s that fresh challenge, that kind of new stimulation and so I always do what I feel is needed for the best of the team.”
