Red Bull hit by warning: “Adrian Newey will not put up with unrest”
Could Adrian Newey's future come under the microscope as the Red Bull fallout continues?
Adrian Newey’s future could be affected by the uncertainty at Red Bull, Ralf Schumacher has claimed.
Although the focus has been on team principal Christian Horner, star driver Max Verstappen and his father Jos, the damage could extend to Red Bull’s genius car designer Newey, Schumacher insists.
Newey “will not put up with this unrest in the long term”, ex-F1 driver Schumacher told Sky.
Newey is the brains behind F1’s most dominant car last year. This season the RB20 shocked onlookers with a radical design but it immediately paid dividends at the first race.
The weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix was preceded by Horner being cleared of wrongdoing in an independent investigation into his behaviour, after accusations from a female colleague.
Alleged evidence was then leaked, before Jos Verstappen dramatically demanded that Horner lose his job.
Horner maintains he will still be Red Bull boss at this coming weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, while the father of the team’s top driver is not expected to attend.
Schumacher insists that Horner "is now required to draw conclusions”.
He added: “I believe that when you see how bad the mood is against him, he is untenable and should resign in the interests of the team."
It was suggested to Schumacher that the body language between Horner, Helmut Marko and Newey within the Red Bull camp was more divided than usual.
“That speaks volumes,” Schumacher responded.
“We can't look into their heads. But the problem definitely needs to be clarified.
"It's still an ordeal, it's not over yet.
“Until everything is sorted out, either some people will have to apologise or someone will have to leave.
“The damage to the Red Bull brand is already gigantic.”
On-track Red Bull had a dream start to 2024 in Bahrain, with Verstappen leading Sergio Perez home in a 1-2 finish.
But it shrouded by the off-track controversy which worsened after the race when Verstappen’s father broke his silence.
Marko reacted to the Bahrain weekend: "It wasn't pleasant, but we concentrated on the sporting aspect and, thank God, that worked out perfectly.
"We've seen an incredible performance from the team.
We expect our strength and cohesion to remain intact."
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
