A clip has resurfaced in which Adrian Newey admits that leaving Red Bull “would be like leaving your family” amid rumours that the F1 design legend is pinned on the team.
Despite the team’s continued good luck at the track, several earlier reports this week claimed that Newey had signalled his intention to leave Red Bull, which would be a major blow to the reigning constructors’ champions.
Newey has been a central figure in Red Bull’s good fortunes since arriving from McLaren in 2006, generating several winning cars for Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
The rumours of Newey’s possible departure come after reports that the 65-year-old secured contracts from Aston Martin and Ferrari, with whom he has been linked on several occasions throughout his illustrious career.
While his long-term career is still uncertain, a clip from Newey’s appearance on the Formula For Success podcast in December 2023 has resurfaced on social media, in which he revealed his admiration for Ferrari and admitted that he had “almost been close” to joining the famed Scuderia 3 times. Opportunities.
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However, Newey insisted he was “comfortable” at Red Bull, comparing the prospect of leaving the Milton Keynes headquarters to that of leaving his own family.
He said: “Ferrari is this magical logo which, in all honesty, probably everyone in motorsport is fascinated and tempted to sign on to if given the chance.
“I’ve been approached, and I’ve been close, 3 times. One of them in IndyCars a long time ago.
“It’s an amazing brand. There’s all this mystique in it. In fact, it’s the Italian national team, with all the things that go along with it.
“The problem is that if you don’t do a wonderful job, you’re bound to be reprimanded and torn apart. Of course, if you do a smart job, then you’re a national hero. That brings with it all its own pressures. “
“But I have to try to take away the hobby aspect and approach it from an engineering perspective.
“I’ve enjoyed the groups I’ve worked for and, of course, Red Bull because it’s a team I’ve been a component of, more or less, from the beginning.
“It’s a team where I’ve played a pivotal role in developing the engineering side of the team, so it’s a team I’m comfortable with. We all know how we work.
“I guess I have to replace now; I’m not saying I’ll never replace it because you never say that; However, it would be like abandoning your family, because that’s what they’ve become. “
After Ferrari announced the signing of Lewis Hamilton to a multi-year contract starting in 2025, speculations abound that Newey could move to Maranello to form an F1 superteam with the seven-time world champion.
Newey was arguably closer to joining Ferrari in 2014, when the arrival of F1’s V6 hybrid engines ended Red Bull’s initial era of dominance under Vettel after four consecutive wins.
In his 2017 autobiography, Newey pointed to the adventurous, cutting-edge culture within Red Bull, where Christian Horner is the longest-serving F1 team principal, having remained in the role since the team entered the grid in 2005, as the explanation for his decision. . stand still.
He said: “We had gone from being a paddock joke, an upstart, a strong, comfortable drinking corporation to party with, to four-time world champions, and we had done it in an outdated way, principles that to me were true to the true spirit of motorsport.
“I went back to the start of the 2012 season, when we couldn’t get the car to work properly, and I remembered with pride that our shoulders didn’t drop. We had put our heads down, worked on it, and solved the problem. problem.
“I have an idea of how we evolved young drivers instead of buying star names; how we had helped put Milton Keynes on the map; how, at all times, we never stop working; how we had taken the road less traveled, even if it meant dealing with probably insurmountable technical problems or challenges; How we never choose the undeniable choice of pursuing an undeniable life nor do we sit on our laurels, rejoice in ourselves, and make the decision that it will “work. “
“We’ve continued to innovate. “
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