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Newey also involved in high-stakes battle between Horner and Marko
- Ludo van Denderen
It appears to be vain hope to think that calm has returned to Red Bull Racing after a weekend of mud-slinging. So it suddenly emerges via the authoritative Auto, Motor und Sport that Christian Horner is considering putting Adrian Newey fully on the RB17 hypercar project. Such a move could be seen as promoting away the master designer responsible for the success cars with which Max Verstappen is currently stringing together Grand Prix victories.
Since Saudi Arabia, it has been really clear to everyone that things are rumbling within the Austrian formation: Helmut Marko himself announced last week that he was about to be suspended - an action in which Christian Horner and the Thai major shareholder of Red Bull GmbH had a hand. In the end, the suspension was waived, probably because Max Verstappen emphatically stood up for his mentor. The three-time world champion immediately let the media know: 'If Marko goes, I go too.'
Red Bull denies Newey departure
Adrian Newey has not (yet) spoken openly about which camp he belongs to: Team Horner or Team Marko/Verstappen. However, it looks like the British engineer is siding with Marko and Verstappen, especially as the story is now coming out that Newey could be promoted away on Horner's initiative. Incidentally, Red Bull denies that Newey is leaving. The Austrians do stress that the RB17 is Newey's pride and joy and he is not going to leave and just forget all about that.
Newey is still an employee of the F1 team. However, it is known that the FIA wants to introduce new regulations, which will make it more difficult - if not impossible - for staff to be based elsewhere within the organisation, but allow these people to work for the Formula 1 team. So the question is to what extent it is at all possible for Newey to do both projects in the future and at the same time fall under the budget cap - something Horner would thus strive for; at least if the FIA goes ahead with the change in regulations.
In any case, it is clear that Newey has suddenly become a pawn in an increasingly fierce power struggle. The Horner camp, meanwhile, has also read the stories that Newey would have to leave, or at least be promoted away. This camp is convinced that Helmut Marko is behind this flow of rumours in the German media, with the sole motivation being to irritate Horner further.
This story was co-authored by Tim Kraaij.