An agreement has been reached with his team for an early release in 2025; now the car designer is ready to join Lewis Hamilton at Maranello.
Adrian Newey’s long journey with Red Bull has ended. The partnership between the most brilliant designer in current F1 and the world champion team concluded during an extended meeting, lasting several hours, at the team’s headquarters in Milton Keynes. The parties reached an agreement for the early termination of his contract, which was set to expire at the end of 2025, facilitated by lawyers, much like the most painful separations. It was predictable after the persistent rumors last week, but the turn of events remains stunning. Behind the decision, there appears to be Adrian Newey’s discomfort with the situation created in the team following the incident involving team principal Christian Horner, who was accused of inappropriate behavior by a Red Bull employee.
Not to mention the ongoing internal power struggle for over a year between Horner and his counterpart Helmut Marko, which erupted after the death of patron Dietrich Mateschitz. These tensions evidently weighed on Newey’s decision, who was very close to Christian Horner, having shared more than twenty years of racing and triumphs with him from a project that seemed like a utopia.
Adrian Newey’s departure significantly weakens Red Bull, for whom he was the technical reference point, above technical director Pierre Wache and other loyalists trained at his school. Now, the man capable of creating the race cars 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. Waiting for him is Ferrari, which last won the drivers’ championship in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen, akin to a mission. Yesterday, Fred Vasseur, the team principal of Ferrari, did not travel with the team to Miami, where the race is on Sunday. Instead, he flew to London.
The reason? To meet Adrian Newey in the evening, perhaps to finalize the long-whispered agreement that will bring the English genius to Maranello next season. It’s likely that the signing announcement will come after the Miami GP. The designer will be able to immediately work on the 2026 car, unencumbered by gardening leave, with his ideas proving crucial for best interpreting the new technical regulations that will come into effect. This is an aspect where he has always excelled.
Thus, Ferrari will complete another fairy-tale operation, after signing Lewis Hamilton, snatched from Mercedes with a multi-year contract starting in 2025. The most successful driver in Formula 1 history together with the engineer of wonders: one could hardly ask for more. Moreover, it has always been Adrian Newey’s dream to work with the seven-time champion. Chairman John Elkann, with this double move, has shown he cares as much about Ferrari’s sporting fate as about the commercial successes achieved in the market with the prancing horse supercars. No expense was spared to sign Lewis Hamilton, an ideal marketing figure earning about 50 million euros a year, and then Adrian Newey. If Lawrence Stroll’s Aston Martin had offered him a four-year contract worth a total of 100 million euros, Ferrari must have matched that… What Adrian Newey can contribute to Ferrari is easy to imagine.
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After winning with Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull, he only lacks a title with Maranello to complete an unprecedented F1 career. The Leonardo Da Vinci of aerodynamics, capable of designing unbeatable cars while still using the classic drawing board, is much more than a virtuoso soloist. Under his leadership, with Fred Vasseur’s organization, the entire technical group of the team can grow, even though Adrian Newey will remain in England for long periods of the year, as seems likely. It will be somewhat like when Michael Schumacher, Rory Byrne, and Ross Brawn came to Ferrari, architects of the golden era under Luca di Montezemolo and Jean Todt. It’s an opportunity not to be missed to return to the top of Formula 1.
Christian Horner’s team, however, seems to begin crumbling, despite its dominance on the track that has continued since 2022 and shows no sign of stopping, because Adrian Newey’s departure could trigger a chain reaction. For now, it seems that the technical director Pierre Wache, also long courted by Ferrari and on the verge of accepting the proposal, will stay where he is, locked in by Christian Horner with contractual clauses. The same might hold for other loyalists of Adrian Newey. But how long will the fortress hold? Especially since there is a concerned Max Verstappen looking around for future alternatives, supported by his father Jos who is openly at war with Horner, who so far has remained in charge thanks to the support of the Thai family that owns 51% of the energy drink company.
If the team loses more pieces, even Max Verstappen might be tempted to flee, with Toto Wolff’s Mercedes ready to offer him golden bridges, with a bid of 150 million euros. Logic says that in 2025 Red Bull will still have the fastest car, so Max Verstappen should not move before 2026, but even Adrian Newey seemed destined to stay for life…
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