Tag: Adrian Newey

Working with Newey at Ferrari would be ‘a privilege’ – Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton says it would be “a privilege” to work with Adrian Newey at Ferrari in 2025, following the news that the legendary designer will leave Red Bull. Newey’s contract with Red Bull was due to expire at the end of next year but he has …

Lewis Hamilton says it would be “a privilege” to work with Adrian Newey at Ferrari in 2025, following the news that the legendary designer will leave Red Bull.

Newey’s contract with Red Bull was due to expire at the end of next year but he has negotiated an earlier exit that will see him leave in the first quarter of 2025, following 19 years at the team. The chief technical officer becomes a free agent and has not announced his next move yet, and Hamilton says he would “very much” like for Newey to follow him to Ferrari.

“Adrian’s got such a great history, track record, and he’s obviously just done an amazing job throughout his career in engaging with teams and the knowledge that he has,” Hamilton said. “I think he would be an amazing addition.

“I think [Ferrari] have already got a great team, they’re already making huge progress and strides forward — their car is quicker this year — but yeah. it would be a privilege to work with him.

“If I was to do a list of people I would like to work with, he would absolutely be at the top of it.”

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While Hamilton insists he doesn’t know what the chances are of him working with Newey in the future, he says he has felt part of his influence in his early career. He doesn’t believe Newey’s departure will overly weaken Red Bull, however.

“Just from my perspective, when I joined McLaren I think it was an evolution of his car. I think I got there just after he left,” Hamilton said. “That car had evolved from a concept that he had worked on. So I felt privileged that I had the chance to touch something he worked on.

“Racing against a team he’s been so heavily a part of for the years has been a massive challenge. But I think we always need to remember there’s a lot of people in the background. There is not one key person that… it’s not one person, it’s a whole team of people who do the job.

“So you can imagine, of all the amazing experience that he brings to the team, the people that he works with will continue to do an amazing job and I don’t anticipate Red Bull not continuing to build great cars moving forwards. But any team would be fortunate to have the opportunity to work with him.”

Horner says Newey’s legacy ‘will echo through the halls’ at Red Bull

Adrian Newey’s impact on Red Bull “will echo through the halls” at the team’s headquarters, according to team principal Christian Horner. The legendary designer has negotiated an early release from his contract and will leave Red Bull in the first …

Adrian Newey’s impact on Red Bull “will echo through the halls” at the team’s headquarters, according to team principal Christian Horner.

The legendary designer has negotiated an early release from his contract and will leave Red Bull in the first quarter of 2025, in part due to a weakening in his relationship with Horner over recent seasons. Newey’s next move has not yet been announced but he has been linked with Ferrari, Aston Martin, Mercedes and McLaren, and has not stated a desire to leave Formula 1.

While Red Bull has prepared for Newey’s eventual departure by securing the futures of key members of its current technical team — including a long-term contract extension for technical director Pierre Wache earlier this year — Horner admits the legacy that Newey will leave behind is a massive one.

“All of our greatest moments from the past 20 years have come with Adrian’s hand on the technical tiller,” Horner said. “His vision and brilliance have helped us to 13 titles in 20 seasons.

“His exceptional ability to conceptualize 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 [Red Bull’s first road-going hypercar] will be a fitting testament and legacy to his time with us.”

Newey had already won 12 titles — six each in terms of drivers’ and constructors’ championships — across Williams and McLaren prior to joining Red Bull, leaving him with a record of 12 constructors’ success with three different teams and 13 drivers’ titles.

Newey’s 2025 Red Bull exit confirmed

Adrian Newey will leave his position as chief technical officer of Red Bull in early 2025, after 19 years and 13 titles with the team. The legendary designer has been with Red Bull since 2006 and has helped the team win seven drivers’ championships …

Adrian Newey will leave his position as chief technical officer of Red Bull in early 2025, after 19 years and 13 titles with the team.

The legendary designer has been with Red Bull since 2006 and has helped the team win seven drivers’ championships and six constructors’ titles in that time, including having a hand in its current dominance. However, after what RACER understands to have been a weakening of the relationship between Newey and team principal Christian Horner over the past 12 months, Newey will leave early next year.

While he hasn’t been full-time on Red Bull’s Formula 1 project for a number of seasons, Newey will continue to attend certain races in a trackside support role until the end of this year, while also focusing on final development and delivery of Red Bull’s first road-going hypercar, the RB17.

Newey had been under contract until the end of the 2025 season but has reached an agreement with Red Bull to then leave in the first quarter of next year, with much of the rest of the technical structure remaining unchanged after technical director Pierre Wache signed a multi-year contract extension in February.

A breakdown between Newey and Horner’s relationship is thought to be behind the former’s impending departure. Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images

“Ever since I was a young boy, I wanted to be a designer of fast cars,” Newey said. “My dream was to be an engineer in Formula 1, and I’ve been lucky enough to make that dream a reality. For almost two decades it has been my great honor 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.

“I would like to thank the many amazing people I have worked with at Red Bull in our journey over the last 18 years for their talent, dedication and hard work. It has been a real privilege, and I am confident that the engineering team are well prepared for the work going into the final evolution of the car under the four-year period of this regulation set.”

Although he references new challenges, Newey has not disclosed where his next move will take him, despite being linked with Ferrari, Aston Martin, McLaren, and Mercedes.