Formula 1 advances in its 2024 season, which will continue on May 5 with the Miami Grand Prix. But, regardless of what happens on the track (on which Max Verstappen and Red Bull continue to extend their dominance). What happens outside the circuits arouses an equal and even greater interest.
The transfer market opened early with the surprising departure of Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes to move to Ferrari and then continued with the confirmation of Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin. But, while everyone is looking at which will be the new team for which Carlos Sainz will race (the future of a good part of the other 10 drivers who still do not have a contract for 2025 will depend on that decision), another name that is taking all the attention. And it is very good that it is so.
This is Adrian Newey, the most important designer of modern Formula 1. This creative genius is responsible for all the success achieved by Red Bull. He was in charge of giving life to the cars that were champions with Sebastian Vettel (four titles) and the current hegemony of Verstappen (current three-time world champion).
His remarkable performance is recognized by everyone in the Máxima and until recently it was definitely impossible to think of Newey outside of Red Bull. But the issue changed.
This English engineer, 65 years old, who maintains a very “old school” style (it is not that he does not use technology, but all his ideas and developments start from taking notes with paper and pen, just like his initial drawings) , wants to leave Red Bull.
The reasons behind Newey’s departure from Red Bull
The internal battle that has been going on for a long time in the Austrian team between Christian Horner (team manager) and Helmut Marko (external advisor, but with a strong weight within the structure and with the support of Max Verstappen) generated a lot of noise behind closed doors. . For Newey this means stopping working with the peace of mind that he would like to have.
And the other details are that Red Bull wants him to take charge of the development of the Hypercar to race in the WEC (the World Endurance Championship). Newey does not frown upon being part of that project, but he fears that this will be a reason to begin to lose importance within the Formula 1 team.
Two who bet big
From this situation, teams with many pretensions showed their interest in Adrian Newey. The first to do so was Aston Martin. Lawrence Stroll heads a million-dollar and ambitious project with his Formula 1 team. He managed to retain Fernando Alonso, the team will be associated with the successful Honda engines starting in 2026 (when the regulations will change) and the icing on the cake was being able to add to the best designer.
There was a meeting between Stroll and Newey during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Canadian businessman offered him 100 million dollars for four seasons to develop a car that could be a champion. In fact, that would have been one of the elements of seduction when retaining Alonso.
But now Ferrari appeared. This Thursday, the prestigious German media Auto Motor und Sport reported that Newey will leave Red Bull (he has been with the Milton Keynes-based team since 2006) and that the legendary Italian team would be very close to closing with the engineer. The Scudería, led by its team leader Frederic Vasseur, has also been building its dream of fighting for crowns. The French manager managed to tempt Hamilton (who is leaving Mercedes) and the chance to now have Newey makes the fans excited about having a Dream Team again.
For now it’s just that. There are no figures, there are no more details. But the issue drove everyone in Formula 1 crazy.
What Adrian Newey should define
The first detail to take into account about the situation of the British engineer is his contract. The current one includes the 2025 campaign at Red Bull. That is, Newey would have to see the option of achieving an early exit.
Then, decide if you are more tempted by the Aston Martin project (a lot of money) or the Ferrari project (probably with fewer dollars, but with a stronger impact in terms of glory).
Despite his 65 years, and although some dare to say that good old Adrian may already be thinking about retirement, the truth and concrete thing is that Newey maintains a lot of interest in continuing to see Formula 1 cars.
They are his passion. Your game is to discover the secrets that the regulations allow and get the most out of it. At Aston Martin and Ferrari they are very excited. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, too. For them it could be a gigantic close to their career to think about becoming world champions again with Adrian Newey.
