F1 design guru Adrian Newey will no longer attend races for Red Bull
F1 design great Adrian Newey will no longer attend races for Red Bull, writes Lewis Larkam in Baku.
Adrian Newey has attended his final F1 race in an official technical capacity for Red Bull, Crash.net understands.
The legendary designer, widely considered as the greatest in F1 history, will leave Red Bull after nearly two decades to join Aston Martin in March 2025 upon the expiry of his contract.
Since his Red Bull departure was confirmed in May, Newey has attended races in Miami, Monaco and Silverstone.
Crash.net understood the plan was for Newey to continue to attend further events for Red Bull in a technical capacity later this season but believe this has now changed. The 65-year-old Briton’s focus will remain on the RB17 hypercar project.
Despite still being under contract at Red Bull, Newey appeared at Aston Martin’s high-profile press conference to confirm his statement switch at their new state-of-the-art Silverstone base last Tuesday.
It is understood that Red Bull were left in the dark about Newey’s plans to attend Aston Martin's announcement event.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hinted at discontent towards this when he spoke to media including Crash.net on Friday in Baku.
"It was obviously a large announcement by Aston and Adrian has always tended to do his own thing so obviously it was a big moment for that team," Horner said.
"They chose to celebrate it perhaps potentially slightly prematurely before he has finished his contract with Red Bull Racing but obviously it was a big moment for that team.”
Horner went on to praise Newey’s contribution to Red Bull and wished him well for his future move.
“It wasn’t a great surprise. It was becoming clearer and clearer that was the route he was going to go rather than into retirement or any other team,” he added.
“Obviously it will be a new challenge for him and we’ll be sad when he leaves next year. But we wish him all the best for the future and look back with great fondness the 20 years almost that we spent together and the highs and lows during that period.
“Adrian is a very creative guy. He’s not your average designer. I think he’s the only person in F1 still working on a drawing board.
“Inevitably there will be a process of getting to know each other, how each other work and so on. But he is unique in many respects. Aston will look to draw upon his huge experience.”
