By Joe Murphy
In a move that fans feared was written on the wall or some time, Adrian Newey has decided he wants to leave Red Bull effective immediately. The man who has overseen such success with the team over the two decades in the sport has indicated to Red Bull officials his wish to end his tenure with F1’s world champion team.
Senior sources at Red Bull say the team is yet to receive any formal resignation from Newey. In fact, the team were forced to come out with a statement on Thursday afternoon: “Adrian is contracted until at least the end of 2025 and we are unaware of him joining any other team.”
13 world titles in 18 years is some return, only beaten by Mercedes, Brawn and Ferrari in that time. They are set to add to these numbers, this coming year. Many believe his designs are the main reasons for the teams success and dominance in recent seasons especially.
He is understood to have extended his contract to the end of 2025 last May but this wouldn’t prevent him from handing in his notice. The question is now whether success, and indeed Max Verstappen, use this departure to plan their future. The Mercedes rumours fail to go away and this may have an impact. Moreover, the fact that this is to do with the Christian Horner allegations means there may be more to come from the ongoing saga.
Questions may also start to arise regarding a potential move to Ferrari, as fans started to speculate earlier this year when Lewis Hamilton announced his impending move to the Italian outfit.
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