Newey expects to join another F1 team

Adrian Newey has said for the first time that he expects to join another Formula 1 team following his decision to leave Red Bull.

The 65-year-old design legend said that he was “seriously considering changing teams, going somewhere else and doing another four or five years or whatever”.

Newey added: “I feel a little bit tired at the moment, but at some point I’ll probably go again.”

Newey’s decision to leave his role as Red Bull chief technical officer after 19 years was announced earlier this month.

His latest comments come in an interview with his manager Eddie Jordan, the former F1 team boss, in a marketing video for a yacht company that has been released on YouTube.

Newey, regarded as the greatest F1 designer in history, does not reveal where he might go, but he is known to have had conversations with Ferrari about moving there. Ferrari, who are regarded as the strong favourites to land Newey, have refused to comment.

McLaren Racing chief executive officer Zak Brown has said “never say never” about recruiting Newey. Williams team principal James Vowles said he approached him and had a “light conversation”. And Aston Martin are believed to have made him an offer, although the team officially deny that.

Newey negotiated an early release from his Red Bull contract that allows him to start working for another team in early 2025, in time for him to have a major influence on the design of that team’s car for the new F1 technical regulations that are being introduced in 2026.

Lewis Hamilton, who is joining Ferrari next season, has said he is keen for Newey to join him in Maranello. Newey said that made him feel good, but added that it was “not why I get up”.

Newey's decision to leave Red Bull was partly influenced by the controversy surrounding team principal Christian Horner, who has been accused of sexual harassment and coercive, controlling behaviour by a female employee.

Horner denies the allegations, and has been cleared by one internal investigation. Another is ongoing after the complainant appealed, and while that is also expected to end with the same result, there will be further developments as time goes by.

Newey was also frustrated by what he perceived to be attempts by some figures at Red Bull to publicly play down his influence in their current success.

In the interview, he said: “To walk away from Red Bull was a very hard decision but it was one I needed to take for a whole host of reasons. They had been my family.”

He acknowledged being caught by surprise by the level of interest in his decision.

“I never really thought it would be big news so for it to be in all the flipping papers and on the telly was almost a bit of a shock,” he said.

Newey said that his decision to keep working beyond retirement age had been influenced by two factors.

One was that his father retired at 65 and “kind of lost his way a bit, just lost his mojo a bit”.

The other was asking motorsport veterans Bernie Ecclestone and Roger Penske, still working in their 90s and 80s respectively, about retirement.

“They both said the brain is like muscle, it needs exercise so you need to keep doing that,” he said.