The script twist that can change everything

Losing a great driver is a problem, but losing a great engineer is a real drama. I’m not saying it, authoritative voices in Formula 1 say it. And Adrian Newey is the genius that everyone wants, the engineer who turns almost everything he touches into gold and the one who is considered one of the best – if not the best – from the history of F1.

Let us remember that Newey has accumulated 25 titles in the premier category of motorsports. Williams, McLaren, Red Bull… a team that he has been through – at least since the 90s – a team that becomes champion. That is why everyone would surely want to have Adrian in their ranks, but he has been at Red Bull for almost 20 years – he arrived at the end of 2005 – until now.

The news spread like wildfire yesterday. Auto Motor und Sport lit the fuse and other reputable media, such as the BBC or Autosport, confirmed it. The advertisement is missing. What is not known is his next destination, although it is clear that Ferrari or Aston Martin – even Mercedes or McLaren – would give whatever was necessary to have the F1 genius in their structure.

Adrian has not only been the best in the past, he still is. Yes, many of his cars were smashers in the past and he’s now 65 years old, but just take a look at Red Bull’s performance since 2022, or even 2021, to quantify his value.

It is also very clear that Newey has been the engineer who has best understood ground effect cars. Since the 2022 season, Red Bull is sweeping and almost everyone tries to copy its designs, but it is always one step ahead. We all knew that in an F1 with ‘frozen’ engines, Adrian was going to shine with his own light, but this time he has exceeded expectations.

It is said that Adrian no longer has so much weight in the design of the cars and that he is not so important. What a coincidence… they also told us that Peter Prodromou was one of the architects of Red Bull’s successes and did not know how to lead McLaren to glory; and the case of Dan Fallows at Aston Martin is similar. Meanwhile, Newey’s cars continue to win. Curious, isn’t it?

The bad news for any team that wants to sign Adrian Newey is the mandatory ‘gardening’ that they will have to go through. Red Bull has already made it clear that he has a contract until the end of 2025 and, on the other hand, it is said that this ‘fallow’ period could be one year. This takes us until early 2027 to start working on another structure.

Of course, the picture can change. But, even if Newey enjoyed the best of cases and was free today, that year of gardening would prevent him from working until the end of April next year. Taking into account that work on the 2026 car can be done from January 1, 2025, there would already be a delay. Therefore, the fruits of a Newey signing would not be seen immediately… and, in the worst case, perhaps they would arrive in 2028.

But all this is minutiae when you have the opportunity to hire the aerodynamics genius. Be very clear that several teams will give him a blank check and everything he asks for. Lewis Hamilton’s eighth with Ferrari? The 33rd and Fernando Alonso’s third with Aston Martin? Maybe a change of scenery with Mercedes? The decision will be yours and each challenge is of great dimensions. It is the script twist that can change everything, including the future of some pilots.