Just two short weeks after confirming his departure from Red Bull Racing, legendary Formula 1 car designer Adrian Newey has shared his desire to join another team for one last multi-year stint before retirement.
“I feel a little bit tired at the moment, but at some point, I’ll probably go again,” Newey told the media, according to the BBC. “Seriously considering changing teams, going somewhere else, and doing another four or five years or whatever.”
Realistically, “four or five years” is how long it would take a team to be transformed by Newey’s revolutionary work. Shaping up staff and their way of thinking, redesigning a car, implementing processes, and likely bringing in a person or two from Red Bull—it wouldn’t be an overnight process. It just goes to show how calculated Newey is with his words, and if you ask me, he already knows where he’s going.
Newey won’t be working in full capacity with Red Bull for the remainder of the 2024 season, but he will still be present at some races at trackside support. He will also devote the majority of his time to the final development phase of Red Bull’s first street-going hypercar, the RB17.
Is it time for Red Bull to start worrying? Absolutely. Newey has played an integral role in the team’s successes over the last two decades, and his departure will certainly be felt. This, in addition to a new engine supplier in 2026 and several other key changes, will test the organization’s resilience and focus.
Even if things go smoothly for the Milton Keynes squad, Newey joining a rival team will put more pressure on them to perform. It’s safe to assume that at this point in the designer’s career, he will only go where he can wrap up his stellar career with a bang. Will that be finally working in Maranello after the Scuderia’s many attempts to hire him over the years? It’s very likely. Newey has previously said that he would’ve loved to get a chance to work with Lewis Hamilton. This could be that chance.
But there’s also Aston Martin and Lawrence Stroll’s deep pockets—and not to mention Fernando Alonso. Newey could take that team and whip it into shape, especially as the British squad prepares to switch to Honda power in a couple of years. Y’know, Honda, the company that Newey knows so well and has helped Red Bull dominate F1.
It’s unclear at this moment if Newey will be jumping ship in 2025 or taking a sabbatical and kicking things off again in 2026. People like him don’t really enjoy standing still, so it’s likely the former.
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