Red Bull’s departing design guru Adrian Newey has revealed his plans for the future after admitting that he has been shut out of engineering meetings at the F1 team since his decision to leave the reigning champions.
Newey, credited as being one of the most influential designers motor sport has ever seen, announced he’d be leaving Red Bull in the first quarter of 2025.
There have been contrasting reports over his future with Ferrari, Aston Martin and even boats on the horizon for the 65-year-old.
But speaking at an Oyster Yachts event with Eddie Jordan, whom Newey described as his manager, the design expert revealed plans for the future.
Newey Gump inspiration
“If you’d have asked me 15 years ago if I’d be considering changing teams and going somewhere else and doing another four or five years, I’d say you were absolutely mad,” he said.
“Two of the people I respect the most, Bernie [Ecclestone] and Roger Penske; I asked them what their secret is because they’ve kept going and going… and they both said the brain is like a muscle and it needs exercise.
“I have always wanted to work in motor racing as a designer and I have been lucky enough to fulfil that ambition. I’ll have a bit of a holiday. As Forrest Gump said: I feel a little bit tired at the moment.
“But at some point I’ll probably go again.”
Having admitted the public wishes of Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton wanting him with the seven-time world champion at the Scuderia was flattering, Newey described how he has been shut out of meetings since his announcement.
Shut out
“Miami was a strange race for me because the news had just broken in the press, on a very unfortunate day [30 years since Ayrton Senna’s death] but the Grand Prix itself was strange because I was there in a strategy function on the pit wall but I wasn’t involved in any of the engineering decisions or meetings. I was just being wheeled around for press.”
Adds Newey, who has just purchased an Oyster yacht: “Having been at Red Bull more or less from the start, being centrally involved with Christian [Horner] on how we developed the team and having taken a big career gamble… to walk away from that was a very hard decision.
“It is a decision I felt I needed to make it for a whole host of reasons. But Red Bull has been my family.
“It gives me an opportunity to walk away, look at doing new challenges and let the team fly. I am sure it still can.”