The F1 world has been sent into rapture by the rumours of the possible departure of aer-wizard Adrian Newey from Red Bull. Newey has been a vital force behind Red Bull’s incredible rise to Formula 1 glory. With the re-introduction of ground-effect cars, Adrian Newey’s brilliance has propelled Red Bull to the top of F1 once again. The Newey designed cars, in the hands of the great Max Verstappen have proved to be simply unstoppable since 2022.
Red Bull surges on track, struggles off it
Even though Red Bull has been dominating on track, things are far from smooth off it. It all started with the texting scandal featuring team principal Christian Horner earlier this year. The scandal reportedly led to friction within the team. There were talks of Max Verstappen’s possible departure to Mercedes because of an internal split. After those rumours were quashed, rumours of the chief technology officer and aero-guru Adrian Newey’s departure have rocked the team. Even though Newey’s contract runs till 2025, there have been reports of his possible departure to Ferrari a year earlier.
Adrian Newey is reportedly unhappy with the clashes within the team
Adrian Newey has apparently decided to leave Red Bull because of the ugly power struggle going on within the team. This had been highlighted by Max Verstappen’s father Jos earlier this year. After embarrassing screenshots of Horner’s texts to a female employee were leaked, Jos Verstappen demanded Horner’s resignation from the team. However, Christian Horner was cleared of any wrongdoing after an external investigation.
Pit lane skirmishes are clouding another spectacular Red Bull season
Max Verstappen has been on an absolute tear during the 2024 season as well. He has won four out of the first five races in a brutally dominant manner. The only race he didn’t win was the Australian Grand Prix where he was forced to retire after a right rear brake failure. Max Verstappen has also secured the pole position in all five races this season. Nothing seems to be standing in the way of Max Verstappen’s charge towards a fourth consecutive World Championship.
However, Newey’s possible departure from Red Bull Racing will cast a massive shadow of doubt on the Milton Keynes-based outfit’s dominance in the coming seasons. Max Verstappen’s talent behind the wheel is unquestionable, but without the Newey-designed Red Bulls, such incredible dominance is unlikely to continue.
Jos Verstappen spoke about Adrian Newey
“Normally I won’t say anything about it. What else can I say about it? I don’t know anything else about it,” said Jos Verstappen. “I know that there is basically a deal between him and Red Bull (until 2025). We’ll see about the rest, I can’t say anything about that. We all know what he has achieved and how good he is.”