Storied Formula 1 designer Adrian Newey will depart his role as Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer at the beginning of 2025, the team has confirmed in a press release.
Newey, 65, is F1’s most celebrated car designer with 25 championships to his name during his protracted F1 career with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull since 2006.
The Briton has been responsible for designing all seven of Red Bull’s championship-winning cars to date, including last season’s RB19 car which won all but one race.
Red Bull has confirmed that Newei will be phased out as he attends “specific” races in this season ahead of his spell ending with the team in the first quarter of 2025.
Meanwhile, Red Bull also underlined that Newey would continue his involvement working on the RB17 Hypercar that is scheduled to be revealed at Goodwood in July.
“The engineering supremo will step back from F1 design duties to focus on final development and delivery of Red Bull’s first hypercar, the hugely anticipated RB17,” Red Bull said.
“He will remain involved in and committed to this exciting project until its completion.”
Newey stated that he felt it was the optimal time to step back from his role after near two decades designing cars that have taken 118 wins and 272 podium finishes.
“Ever since I was a young boy, I wanted to be a designer of fast cars,” he said. “My dream was to be an engineer in F1, and I’ve been lucky enough to make that dream a reality.
“For almost two decades it has been my great honour to have played a key role in Red Bull Racing’s progress from upstart newcomer to multiple title-winning Team.
“However, I feel now is an opportune moment to hand that baton over to others and to seek new challenges for myself.
“In the interim, the final stages of development of RB17 are upon us, so for the remainder of my time with the team my focus will lie there.”
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner was the individual who enticed Newey to gamble on the upstart team and has hailed his colleague’s contribution to its success.
“All of our greatest moments from the past 20 years have come with Adrian’s hand on the technical tiller,” he said.
“His vision and brilliance have helped us to 13 titles in 20 seasons. His exceptional ability to conceptualise beyond F1 and bring wider inspiration to bear on the design of grand prix cars, his remarkable talent for embracing change and finding the most rewarding areas of the rules to focus on, and his relentless will to win have helped Red Bull Racing to become a greater force than I think even the late Dietrich Mateschitz might have imagined.
“More than that, the past 19 years with Adrian have been enormous fun. For me, when Adrian joined Red Bull, he was already a superstar designer. Two decades and 13 championships later he leaves as a true legend.
“He is also my friend and someone I will be eternally grateful to for everything he brought to our partnership. The legacy he leaves behind will echo through the halls of Milton Keynes and RB17 Track Car will be a fitting testament and legacy to his time with us.”
Newey has been linked with a switch to Ferrari amid the intense recruitment that has transpired since Frederic Vasseur replaced Mattia Binotto over 12 months ago.
The Italian marque has attempted to prise Newey from Red Bull on several occasions, with Horner divulging it took a last-minute discussion to dissuade him in 2014.
Newey had expressed last term that not working with Lewis Hamilton has been a regret, but the seven-time champion will switch to Ferrari at the end of this season.
Elsewhere, Aston Martin has also been touted as a potential destination for the technical guru and reports noted Lawrence Stroll had proposed a lucrative package.
It remains to be seen what Newey’s exit could trigger at Red Bull, as speculation continues to persist over Max Verstappen’s immediate future with the Austrian outfit.
Verstappen, who retains a deal to 2028, has dampened such rumours, but Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has continued to court the Dutchman as his number one target.
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