The shocking rumours were apparently true. Adrian Newey is quitting Red Bull — a veritable bombshell in Formula One racing. The man who put F1 driver Max Verstappen well ahead of the pack, and a three-time world champion, is leaving.Since joining Red Bull Racing in 2006 Newey, the team's chief technical officer, has been instrumental in achieving a remarkable seven F1 Drivers' and six Constructors' Championship titles — totalling 118 victories and 101 poles.So great is his engineering prowess, that one F1 team boss compared the rest of the field to "Formula 2." Such is the domination of Oracle Red Bull Racing over the last three years.The next big rumour is that Newey is quitting because of the continuing commotion over a sexual harassment scandal involving Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner.Horner, the 50-year-old husband of former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, has been accused of misconduct by a team employee after a bevy of sexually suggestive messages leaked out to the media. The unnamed employee accused the team boss of "coercive behaviour" but an internal inquiry involving a KC cleared him of wrongdoing and he has remained in charge.The woman has since changed lawyers and launched an appeal with parent company, Red Bull GmbH, in Salzburg, rather than with the Milton Keynes-based racing team.A friend of the woman told the Daily Mail in the UK: 'She is so disappointed with how it's all gone, especially as she did everything by the book."'She raised her concerns in private and did everything right, but she feels very let down by the company.""They have suspended her when she followed the proper process diligently and correctly.".In a full statement, Newey said: “Ever since I was a young boy, I wanted to be a designer of fast cars. My dream was to be an engineer in Formula One, and I’ve been lucky enough to make that dream a reality.""For almost two decades it has been my great honour to have played a key role in Red Bull Racing’s progress from upstart newcomer to multiple title-winning Team. However, I feel now is an opportune moment to hand that baton over to others and to seek new challenges for myself."Among those new challenges could be Ferrari, who have been chasing Newey for months, like a shark smelling blood.Newey once claimed that his biggest regrets in the sport were never working with Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton or Fernando Alonso. Ferrari has signed Lewis Hamilton as its driver for 2025, though any sweeping changes made by Newey likely would not come into effect until 2026.After earning a degree in aeronautics and astronautics, Newey was immediately snapped up to work in Formula One, and over a four-decade career, he's (so far) won 11 Formula One Constructors’ titles and helped to propel some of the sport’s brightest stars to the Drivers’ Championship.Before joining Red Bull, Newey worked at Williams and McLaren. Both teams won championships during his tenure there, and his Williams car design in the 1990s was hailed as a modern technical marvel.Newey, who was awarded an OBE for his services to motorsport, wouldn’t dare touch a computer — his only medium is putting pen to paper, sometimes even on napkins.In the pits he can often be spotted with a notebook in hand."I’m kind of the last dinosaur in Formula One that’s still using a drawing board; but for me, it’s what I grew up on, so it’s like my first language," he said on the company website.""If I went to a CAD system, I feel like it would always be my second language. I wouldn’t be able to work as freely and easily."It's all about making the car go faster, says Newey."The sketches, the ideas, however they start, the end goal has to be something that makes the car go faster," he said."We have an ultimate master: the stopwatch. Which perhaps differentiates what we do from all the types of general design.".And his secret to auto racing success?"Observation, and curiosity about what’s around you. I think it’s always important to have your eyes open, to look around. Sometimes inspiration can come literally from being in an airport, looking at aircraft and thinking, 'That’s an interesting feature.' ""Or it can even be something like a suspension bridge — all sorts of things. I think it’s just being curious. Curiosity naturally leads to observation."According to widespread reports, including Sky Sports, Newey decided to walk away because of the sexting scandal that threatened to rip the team apart earlier this year.There were public calls for Horner to step down as rumours emerged of rifts within the team amid world champion Verstappen’s refusals to support Horner in public.Newey will attend “specific races” throughout the remainder of the 2024 F1 season, including this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.Whoever ends up hiring Newey next will be able to have him in house as it develops its 2026 car. F1 regulations are significantly changing again in two seasons.
The shocking rumours were apparently true. Adrian Newey is quitting Red Bull — a veritable bombshell in Formula One racing. The man who put F1 driver Max Verstappen well ahead of the pack, and a three-time world champion, is leaving.Since joining Red Bull Racing in 2006 Newey, the team's chief technical officer, has been instrumental in achieving a remarkable seven F1 Drivers' and six Constructors' Championship titles — totalling 118 victories and 101 poles.So great is his engineering prowess, that one F1 team boss compared the rest of the field to "Formula 2." Such is the domination of Oracle Red Bull Racing over the last three years.The next big rumour is that Newey is quitting because of the continuing commotion over a sexual harassment scandal involving Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner.Horner, the 50-year-old husband of former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, has been accused of misconduct by a team employee after a bevy of sexually suggestive messages leaked out to the media. The unnamed employee accused the team boss of "coercive behaviour" but an internal inquiry involving a KC cleared him of wrongdoing and he has remained in charge.The woman has since changed lawyers and launched an appeal with parent company, Red Bull GmbH, in Salzburg, rather than with the Milton Keynes-based racing team.A friend of the woman told the Daily Mail in the UK: 'She is so disappointed with how it's all gone, especially as she did everything by the book."'She raised her concerns in private and did everything right, but she feels very let down by the company.""They have suspended her when she followed the proper process diligently and correctly.".In a full statement, Newey said: “Ever since I was a young boy, I wanted to be a designer of fast cars. My dream was to be an engineer in Formula One, and I’ve been lucky enough to make that dream a reality.""For almost two decades it has been my great honour to have played a key role in Red Bull Racing’s progress from upstart newcomer to multiple title-winning Team. However, I feel now is an opportune moment to hand that baton over to others and to seek new challenges for myself."Among those new challenges could be Ferrari, who have been chasing Newey for months, like a shark smelling blood.Newey once claimed that his biggest regrets in the sport were never working with Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton or Fernando Alonso. Ferrari has signed Lewis Hamilton as its driver for 2025, though any sweeping changes made by Newey likely would not come into effect until 2026.After earning a degree in aeronautics and astronautics, Newey was immediately snapped up to work in Formula One, and over a four-decade career, he's (so far) won 11 Formula One Constructors’ titles and helped to propel some of the sport’s brightest stars to the Drivers’ Championship.Before joining Red Bull, Newey worked at Williams and McLaren. Both teams won championships during his tenure there, and his Williams car design in the 1990s was hailed as a modern technical marvel.Newey, who was awarded an OBE for his services to motorsport, wouldn’t dare touch a computer — his only medium is putting pen to paper, sometimes even on napkins.In the pits he can often be spotted with a notebook in hand."I’m kind of the last dinosaur in Formula One that’s still using a drawing board; but for me, it’s what I grew up on, so it’s like my first language," he said on the company website.""If I went to a CAD system, I feel like it would always be my second language. I wouldn’t be able to work as freely and easily."It's all about making the car go faster, says Newey."The sketches, the ideas, however they start, the end goal has to be something that makes the car go faster," he said."We have an ultimate master: the stopwatch. Which perhaps differentiates what we do from all the types of general design.".And his secret to auto racing success?"Observation, and curiosity about what’s around you. I think it’s always important to have your eyes open, to look around. Sometimes inspiration can come literally from being in an airport, looking at aircraft and thinking, 'That’s an interesting feature.' ""Or it can even be something like a suspension bridge — all sorts of things. I think it’s just being curious. Curiosity naturally leads to observation."According to widespread reports, including Sky Sports, Newey decided to walk away because of the sexting scandal that threatened to rip the team apart earlier this year.There were public calls for Horner to step down as rumours emerged of rifts within the team amid world champion Verstappen’s refusals to support Horner in public.Newey will attend “specific races” throughout the remainder of the 2024 F1 season, including this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.Whoever ends up hiring Newey next will be able to have him in house as it develops its 2026 car. F1 regulations are significantly changing again in two seasons.
