Newey set for Red Bull crunch talks
ADRIAN Newey is set to hold discussions with Red Bull over the next 72 hours in a bid to resolve his future.
It was suggested on Thursday that the designer has requested to leave at the end of year, with Ferrari – ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s arrival in 2025 – mooted as his most likely destination.
The Briton, 65, is regarded as one of the most influential car designers in Formula One history, and has had a major hand in Max Verstappen’s current stranglehold on the sport which places the Dutchman on course to win a fourth consecutive world championship.
Newey is understood to be unhappy in his current role at Red Bull – the team he joined from Mclaren in 2006 – and reports of his end-of-season departure have sparked the need for immediate talks.
It is believed Newey could step back from the day-to-day running of the F1 team’s operation as early as this year, or perhaps at the start of next, and focus on his in-house hypercar, the RB17, which is due to begin production in 2025.
The suggestion of Newey’s desire to end his near twodecade association at Red Bull, which is understood to have come as a surprise to those connected with the grid’s all-conquering team, follows Christian Horner being accused of “inappropriate behaviour” by a female employee. Team principal Horner, who was exonerated by Red Bull’s parent company Gmbh on the eve of last month’s curtain raiser in Bahrain, has always denied the claims.
Newey’s next steps are also likely to have an impact on the future of the team’s superstar driver, Verstappen, who has refused on multiple occasions to confirm he will remain with Red Bull beyond this year.
Verstappen, under contract with Red Bull until 2028, said at last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix that he only wanted a “quiet and peaceful environment” when pressed over whether he would remain with the team. And Mercedes boss Toto Wolff refused to shut down a move for the 26-year-old, who has won four of the five races so far, as a replacement for Hamilton.
A Red Bull spokesperson said: “Adrian is contracted until at least the end of 2025, and we are unaware of him joining any other team.”
British teenager Ollie Bearman’s hopes, meanwhile, of securing a Formula One drive next season have been dealt a major boost following confirmation of Nico Hulkenberg’s move from Haas to Sauber.
Bearman, 18, impressed as a last-minute stand-in for Carlos Sainz at last month’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and a seat at Haas – effectively Ferrari’s B team – in 2025 had been his target.
Hulkenberg’s departure frees up a seat, with Bearman – a Ferrari junior driver – now in pole position to take over from the German, and join Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and George Russell as the fourth British driver on the F1 grid.
Hulkenberg has spent two seasons with Haas, but he will join Sauber ahead of the team being rebranded as Audi in 2026.