Newey also successful at Ferrari? 'At Red Bull he could work the way he wanted'

For Red Bull Racing, it is going to take some time getting used to it: Adrian Newey may still be part of the F1 team, but he is interfering virtually nowhere after his announced departure. Red Bull no longer involve the chief technical officer on a day to day basis and only allow him to work on certain tasks, as they want to prevent Newey from taking knowledge with him to his next employer.

It is a precautionary measure, as Christian Horner assumes for now that Newey will take some time off. "I think he’s going to take some time away from Formula 1 and at 65 you can't blame him," Horner said. "I think he's earned that right to take some time out so what he chooses to do after that will be his choice."

Newey also in place at a rival team?

Yet Horner does not rule out the possibility that at some point things will get itchy again for Newey, who will accept an offer from a rival team. Whether the designer will be as successful there as he was at Red Bull Racing is another question. "I think Formula 1 is a very complicated business now, particularly with the cost cap, elements that you have to take into consideration. You have to think very carefully about where you commit your funding, where you commit your budgets, where you're going to get the best bang for your buck."

"I think that obviously, we had a structure that evolved around Adrian over the years that was able to accommodate the way that he works. He's the only designer in Formula 1 that works still on a drawing board but of course, as the regulations have become tighter and tighter and Adrian's role has evolved and developed within the team over the last years others have had to step up and we've had to change and evolve how we work which is the same in any organisation. It has to continue to evolve and adapt and that's what we've done," Horner said, seeming underlining that Newey is an asset to a team, provided that team can make Newey work to his strengths.