Formula One car design legend Adrian Newey will leave Red Bull early in the 2025 season, the team confirmed on Wednesday.
Newey, a key architect of Red Bull’s domination in F1 and the designer with more championship-winning cars to his name than any other, will leave his role of chief technical officer in the first quarter of next year.
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The move will free up the 65-year-old to work with Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari or Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin, possibly in time for the 2026 season.
His departure will also raise questions about the future of Red Bull’s dominant F1 outfit, which has shown signs this year of crumbling from within.
A key talking point will be whether Newey leaving the team will be enough to prompt soon-to-be four-time world champion Max Verstappen to move teams further down the line.
Numerous reports this week have suggested Newey’s decision is linked to the fallout from team boss Christian Horner’s internal misconduct investigation, although sources have told ESPN that Red Bull have anticipated Newey’s departure for a long while.
Newey said in a statement: “Ever since I was a young boy, I wanted to be a designer of fast cars. My dream was to be an engineer in Formula One, 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.”
Horner said Newey has been crucial to Red Bull’s success, describing him as a “true legend” of the sport.
“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… 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.”