Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s global chief technical officer, may be set to leave the Milton Keynes-based team at the end of the season, according to a report from BBC Sports.
Speculation about a potential departure ramped up Thursday after the report. When reached for comment, Red Bull didn’t confirm or deny if the highly regarded designer has expressed a desire to leave the reigning world champions and said that Newey remains under contract until at least the end of 2025.
Newey is widely considered one of the greatest Formula One designers, being part of 12 constructors’ world championship victories. He’s designed championship-winning cars for Williams and McLaren and has spent nearly two decades with Red Bull, dating back to 2006.
If he is to depart from Red Bull, it will spark a race for his signature, with significant interest anticipated from Ferrari and Aston Martin.
Per BBC Sports, Newey’s desire to leave stems from the ongoing situation with team principal Christian Horner, who faces allegations of inappropriate behavior. Horner has continued to deny these allegations, and the initial grievance was dismissed. However, the female employee has since appealed.
As the process unfolded, a power struggle appeared to surface within the reigning world championship team centered around team advisor Helmut Marko, who faced an investigation of his own from the team’s parent company, and Jos Verstappen, who is Max Verstappen’s father and claimed earlier this year that Red Bull risked being “torn apart” if Horner stayed as the team boss.
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Newey has overseen two dominant eras with Red Bull, from the four-title run with Sebastian Vettel to the recent streak with Verstappen. The Briton took a step back from day-to-day matters when the 1.5 liter V6 turbo hybrid era began in 2014 but returned to his full-time duties in 2019. While he’s been involved with the designs of the last several dominant cars, Newey’s role extends beyond F1, and he’s worked on projects like the RB17 hypercar.
Despite the recent dominance, Newey’s potential departure would be a blow to Red Bull. The regulations are changing in 2026, and this would be a test for Red Bull to see just how strong the team under him is, which is led by Pierre Wache, Ben Waterhouse, Enrico Balbo and Craig Skinner.
Ferrari and Aston Martin are both undergoing significant changes as they build for their respective futures. The Prancing Horses signed seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton from 2025 before this season even began, and in turn, Carlos Sainz — the only non-Red Bull driver to win (twice) in the last 27 races — was left as collateral damage. It’s a pairing of success and fame, though Hamilton and Ferrari haven’t won a world title in some time (2020 for the Briton and 2008 for the Italian team).
With a superteam driver lineup between Hamilton and Leclerc, what’s standing in the Prancing Horse’s way of returning to championship-winning ways is a consistent car. Ferrari overhauled its design for 2024 and appears to have straightened out some of the kinks. However, given Newey’s skill set, bringing the talented designer to Maranello could help Hamilton secure his elusive eighth title with Ferrari after the recent struggles with Mercedes.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin leapfrogged the grid in 2023 and seemed set to challenge the top teams, with Fernando Alonso bagging six podium finishes in the first eight races. But it began backsliding in its performance as other teams brought more substantial upgrades, and now the British team sits at the back of the top five teams. Aston Martin recently re-signed Alonso for at least the next two years. This means the two-time world champion is set to stay with Aston Martin through the start of the upcoming regulations and the beginning of the team’s partnership with Honda. It also shows the Spaniard’s commitment to the long-term project of reaching race-winning and championship-victory ways.
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There has been interest from both Ferrari and Aston Martin in the past, and Newey has yet to work with Hamilton or Alonso.
The possibility of Newey’s move does raise further questions about Verstappen’s future with the team. The Dutchman is contracted through 2028, but there’s been noise in recent weeks about whether he’d leave. He mentioned in Australia this year that it’s “very important that we try and keep the key players in the team for a longer period of time.”
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(Photo: Mark Thompson / Getty Images)
