According to an F1 team boss who wishes to remain anonymous, Red Bull would dig its own grave if Adrian Newey were to visit other places, he tells ‘Motorsport.com’.
Adrian Newey is currently still working on the Reb Bull RB17, but that also counts as the so-called ‘gardening leave’ for when he leaves in the spring of 2025. This would mean that he could immediately start working at Aston Martin or Ferrari to develop the 2026 car.
Whether Newey even wants to work for another team is currently a question mark, but during the press release he left the door ajar. He said he was ready for a new challenge, while Red Bull said he was not in negotiations with other teams.
But what if Newey starts working for another team in 2025?
“It would be an absolute disaster for Red Bull if Adrian were fired early to drive for a competitor,” said an anonymous team boss. “Christian would look crazy. Just like Whitmarsh did at McLaren when he gave Brawn the keys to Mercedes, which was the start of their years of dominance in F1.”
When Honda decided overnight to pull the plug on their F1 project at the end of 2008, Ross Brawn bought the team. It was renamed Brawn GP and McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh decided to supply Mercedes engines to the new team.
Jenson Button immediately became world champion in the first year of Brawn GP, Mercedes took over the team in 2010, reduced its interests in McLaren and the rest is history…