Adrian Newey’s long adventure with Red Bull is over. The conclusion of the marriage between the most brilliant designer of current F1 and the world champion team took place during a river meeting, which lasted several hours, in the team headquarters in Milton Keynes. The parties reached an agreement for the early termination of his contract, which expired at the end of 2025, thanks to the mediation of the lawyers, just like in the most painful separations. It was predictable that it would happen, after the insistent rumors of last week, but the turning point remains sensational. Behind the decision, there would be Newey’s discomfort with the situation created in the team after the affair involving team principal Christian Horner, accused of inappropriate behavior by a Red Bull employee. Not to mention the internal power struggle that has been going on for more than a year between Horner himself and his alter ego Helmut Marko, unleashed after the death of patron Dietrich Mateschitz. Tensions that evidently weighed heavily on the choice of Newey, who was very close to Horner, having lived with him over twenty years of racing and triumphs starting from a project that seemed like a utopia.
green light for Ferrari
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Newey’s departure greatly weakens Red Bull, for which he was the technical point of reference, above the director Pierre Wache and the other loyalists who grew up at his school. Now the man capable of creating the single-seaters that won four world titles with Sebastian Vettel (2010-2013) and three with Max Verstappen (2021-2023) is free to pursue another challenge. Perhaps the most intriguing and prestigious of his incredible career. In fact, Ferrari is waiting for him, having won the last Drivers’ World Championship in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen, a mission to put it. Yesterday Fred Vasseur, the team principal of the red, did not travel with the team to Miami, where they will compete on Sunday. He instead flew to London. Reason? Meeting Newey himself in the evening, perhaps to conclude the agreement that has been whispered about for some time, which will bring the English genius to Maranello from next season. It is likely that the announcement of the signing will be made after the GP. The designer will be able to work immediately on the 2026 car, without constraints related to the gardening, proving fundamental with one’s ideas to best interpret the new technical regulation that will come into force. An aspect in which he has always been a master.
winning puzzle
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Ferrari will thus complete another fairytale operation, after the hiring of Lewis Hamilton, snatched from Mercedes with a multi-year contract starting from 2025. The most successful driver in the history of F1 together with the engineer of wonders: more is impossible ask. Furthermore, it has always been a dream of Newey’s to work with the seven-time world champion. President John Elkann, with this double move, has demonstrated that he cares about the sporting destiny of Ferrari as well as the commercial successes achieved on the market with the Cavallino supercars. He spared no expense in hiring Hamilton, an ideal marketing figure who earns around 50 million euros a year, and then Newey. If the Aston Martin of tycoon Lawrence Stroll had offered the latter a four-year contract worth 100 million in total, the Cavallino could not have been outdone… What Newey’s contribution could be for the red car is easy to imagine. After winning with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull he only needs a title with Maranello to complete an unprecedented F1 career. The Leonardo Da Vinci of aerodynamics, capable of designing unbeatable cars while still making use of the classic drawing board, is much more than a virtuoso soloist. Under his guidance, with Vasseur’s organisation, the entire technical group of the team will be able to grow, even if Newey will remain in England for long periods of the year, as seems likely. It will be a bit like when Michael Schumacher, Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn arrived at Ferrari, architects of the triumphs of the golden era of Montezemolo and Todt. An opportunity not to be missed to return to the top of F1.
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red bull difficulty
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Christian Horner’s team, on the other hand, seems to be starting to crumble, despite their dominance on the track that has lasted since 2022 and shows no signs of stopping, because Newey’s departure could trigger a chain reaction. For now it seems that director Wache, who has also been courted by Ferrari for a long time and is on the verge of accepting the proposal, will remain where he is. Armored by Horner by virtue of contractual clauses. The same could be true for other Newey loyalists. But how long will the fort hold? Above all because there is a Max Verstappen worried about the situation, who looks around in search of alternatives for the future, supported by his father Jos who is at open war with Horner, so far in the saddle thanks to the support of the Thai family who holds the 51 % of the energy drink company. If the team loses other pieces, Max could also be tempted to flee, with Toto Wolff’s Mercedes ready to make him golden bridges, with an offer of 150 million euros. Logic says that Red Bull will still be the fastest car in 2025, so Verstappen shouldn’t move before 2026, but Newey also seemed destined to stay for life…
