Before Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix sent Formula 1 into a cycle of good news surrounding Lando Norris’ maiden victory, there was only one story in town.
Red Bull – which has faced a turbulent start to the year following the allegations against team principal Christian Horner and the resulting power struggle – now faces the impending departure of Adrian Newey, the greatest car designer in F1 history, after 19 years of service.
For now, Red Bull appears well placed to absorb the blow of losing Newey, with a strong technical group under their command. Additionally, Max Verstappen, who had stressed the importance of the team retaining key figures when Helmut Marko’s position came into question a few months ago, radiated calm during a packed media session THURSDAY. Of course, he would have preferred Newey to stay, but he had confidence in the team’s technical group and said he had no reason to consider leaving.
Horner claimed after the Miami race that Red Bull had been laying the foundations for a post-Newey era since 2014, when the designer was, according to Horner, “very close” to leaving the team. Earlier this year, it hired its technical director, Pierre Wache, to a new long-term contract. “We are well positioned for the future,” Horner said. “We always knew this day would come.”
Newey’s appeal to rivals Red Bull is obvious, with Ferrari the hot favorite to land his signature when he becomes a free agent early next year. Lewis Hamilton has said he would “very much” like Newey to join him at Maranello from 2025 and that it would be a “privilege” to finally work with him. Flattering words, but Newey himself, in his only media interview of the weekend with Sky Sports, said that for now it was time to “take a little break and see what happens next”.
Yet through the news cycle that has kept Red Bull firmly in the headlines this season, Newey’s departure – influenced by the team’s power struggle and tensions – might look like more of a senior manager leaving the team. Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, fueled this narrative at the FIA press conference on Friday when he said he was not surprised by Newey’s decision “given everything that has happened “since the start of the year” at Red Bull, calling Newey a “very high-minded individual.”
“What’s happening there is a little bit unsettling,” Brown said of Red Bull. “(Newey’s) is probably the first domino to fall. I’m guessing it’s not the last one, based on the resumes going around. He claimed that McLaren had “seen an increase in the number of CVs coming to us” from Red Bull employees.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said Brown was “absolutely right” and that his team had also “seen Red Bull CVs across the board”. He added that this was “nothing out of the ordinary” given the number of employee transfers that always occur between teams, particularly with the proximity of F1 teams based in Britain.
In the piranha club of F1, such comments are part of the game. The rivalry between Wolff and Horner is long-standing and well-known, while this was far from the first time there was such a thing. crossfire between Brown and Horner. Brown was one of Red Bull’s most vocal critics in 2022, when it emerged the team had exceeded the budget cap the previous year, and he was one of the leading voices in concerns over the close relationship between Red Bull and its sister team, RB.
Wolff’s soft pursuit of Verstappen in recent weeks, indicating a decision on his future is key to the driver market amid suggestions talks could take place with Mercedes, has also contributed to the battles between the teams. Horner was upset by Wolff’s comments about Verstappen in China, suggesting Verstappen had “depth” that meant he would be motivated by more than having the fastest car. Horner responded by asking why Verstappen would want to leave and suggested Wolff should focus on Mercedes’ difficulties on track rather than the driver market. Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff also gave a rare interview to Newspaper Bild Am Sonntag last weekend he criticized Wolff and said there were no concerns that Verstappen was considering walking away.
On Sunday, Horner said such efforts by Brown and Wolff to try to destabilize Red Bull were “inevitable” and that “knowing the two candidates involved, they talk a lot. I’m not going to get drawn into a retaliatory exchange. »
“I would be more focused on Toto’s own problems than him,” Horner added. “I have no concerns about (Red Bull’s) strength in depth. There will always be movement between teams. I don’t know how many people we have employed at McLaren this year, nor how many people (RB) have employed.
“Mercedes, we pulled 220 people – 220 – from the HPP (Mercedes High Performance Powertrains) to the Red Bull Powertrains. So when we talk about losing people, I would worry more about the 220 than one or two CVs.”
Horner rejected the idea that Newey’s departure was linked to his own problems at the helm of the team, saying the reasons behind the decision were “very clear”. He also downplayed a Times report It suggested Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley could be looking for an exit to pursue his ambition of becoming a team principal, saying there were “rumors about everyone” and contracts were not in place. something the team would discuss publicly.
But as the fallout from everything that happened this year continues and the appeal of the dismissal of the grievance filed against Horner is still ongoing, Red Bull’s rivals are not going away quietly.
Horner may be confident in the strength and depth of his operation, but that won’t stop his counterparts like Wolff and Brown from doing what they can to gain an advantage, no matter how small.
(Main photo by Zak Brown and Adrian Newey: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto)