Newey can get to work sooner: gardening leave shorter than thought

It had been in the air for a while, but now the decision has been made: Adrian Newey is leaving Red Bull Racing. The press release stated that Newey is resigning from his duties as designer with immediate effect, he will still be present at some specific Grands Prix and will quit Red Bull Racing completely after the first quarter of 2025.

Red Bull Racing informed GPblog that Newey has indeed stepped down as the car designer with immediate effect. Newey will, therefore, no longer be involved in the 2025 RB21 and certainly not have any influence on the 2026 car. The car will be designed to the new technical regulations coming into effect that year.

What else will Newey do for Red Bull?

Still, Newey will continue to work on behalf of Red Bull for a while. That is mainly to finish his RB17 Hypercar. That car was completely designed by Newey and the Brit will also finish it. Newey will still be present at several Grands Prix in 2024, where he will also promote the Hypercar. What role Newey will play for the F1 team on those weekends is still unclear.

What is clear, however, is what Adrian Newey's gardening leave is. It was previously suggested that Newey would not be able to start working for another F1 team until 2027, but that does not appear to be the case. The period Newey is still working for Red Bull on the RB17 counts as a so-called gardening leave. After the first quarter of 2025, Newey will be finished at Red Bull Racing and immediately free to go wherever he wants.

Whether Newey actually wants to work for another team is unclear at the moment. Newey did leave the door open in the press release itself, saying he was ready for a new challenge. At Red Bull Racing, they state that Newey is not yet in talks with other teams or already has the intention to sign elsewhere.

Why Red Bull is letting Newey go so easily

Red Bull Racing are not particularly worried about Newey's departure. In fact, the RB20 is already being called Pierre Waché and Enrico Balbo's car. The technical director and head of aerodynamics at Red Bull Racing have been performing the day-to-day tasks for a few years now. Red Bull is therefore confident that they can pull the cart without Newey.

Newey is said to have already been less involved in Red Bull design in recent years. Newey works 150 days for Red Bull and divides those days between the Hypercar and Red Bull Racing's F1 team. Therefore, according to Red Bull, it is a smaller step for the organisation now that Newey is leaving and there are also no hard feelings about keeping him on the sidelines for longer.

Still, there are plenty of teams angling for Newey's services. Ferrari seems to be the top contender to acquire Newey in 2025. Newey could then start work on the car for 2026 right away. Aston Martin, Mercedes and McLaren are also said to be interested in Newey's services, but they all do not seem to have to count on Newey's arrival.

The ball is in Newey's court. He will initially have to decide whether he wants to remain active in F1. He spoke of a new challenge, but is that new challenge still there for him in Formula 1? If Newey has one more challenge in F1, it is winning with Ferrari. As such, that seems the most logical scenario for the top designer.