Red Bull Formula 1 boss Christian Horner has denied that Adrian Newey’s impending departure from the squad is related to the investigation into him earlier this term.
Amid gathering rumours, Red Bull announced last week that design guru Newey had communicated his intention to end his near two-decade partnership with the side.
Some reports have suggested that Newey, who has designed Red Bull’s seven title-winning machines, has elected to leave due to his strained relationship with Horner.
Despite Horner being cleared from an internal probe into allegations of inappropriate conduct, there have continued to be rumblings of tension within Red Bull’s ranks.
However, Horner has rubbished the notion that his presence contributed to Newey’s choice and believes he has decided it’s now the right time to pursue a new venture.
“I think if you speak with Adrian, and look at the statements he’s put out, I think Adrian has decided that the timing for him is now after 35 years, with the team in the strength and the engineering depth that we have, to step away and we knew that time was coming,” Horner said when pressed on the speculation linking him to Newey’s egress.
“We’ve built a structure in place to be able to pick up the baton and carry on with it and that’s something that’s been put in place over the last five or six years.”
Horner has insisted that he and Newey remain on good terms and reiterated the stance that Red Bull is well-placed to continue its dominance with the existing setup.
He added: “I’ve spoken to Adrian at length about that and Adrian’s position is very clear.
“We’ve enjoyed a great relationship, we continue to enjoy a great relationship, we’re friends as well as work colleagues and he’s done a huge amount for this team and we’ll be sad to see him leave, but he’s left the team in good shape and we’ve got a great team of people in strength and depth to take this forward.”
Horner, who revealed Red Bull had been preparing for this since 2014, admits the Austrian outfit has been fortunate to retain his services over a considerable period.
“Unfortunately, nothing is forever,” Horner said. “Adrian was at Williams for 7 years, he was at McLaren for 7 years, and we managed to have him for 18 years.
“So, I think we’ve enjoyed some great moments on and off track. It’s been a wonderful journey with Adrian; he’s a friend, he’s the godfather to my children and we remain friends.”
Newey was present at the Miami Grand Prix, but Horner has clarified that the Briton, 65, will attend sporadic races this season and not be involved in the race operation.
“Adrian’s focused very much now on RB17 and he’s not sat in any briefings over the weekend other than the race strategy.
“He has no access to any data he’s not drawing any piles his focus is now very much on RB17.”
He continued: “He’ll be at some races between now and the end of the year primarily where we have RB17 customers.”
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