Red Bull confirmed the big news on Wednesday, after being considered the best designer of all time in the F1 series Adrian Newey leaves the ranks of the energy drink brand.
Newey will focus on Red Bull’s “hypercar” coming to the study car market for the rest of the year and will leave Red Bull in the first quarter of next year.
According to the F1 media, the reason behind the departure is the internal tensions within the Red Bull team. According to the F1 media, Horner has been a disgruntled team manager by Christian Horner for dealing with harassment allegations.
The design guru has also not responded to Horner’s comments, where he felt that Horner downplayed Newey’s importance to Red Bull’s dominance in recent years.
The confirmation of Newey’s departure immediately caused a spark. In recent years, the F1 series has been dominated by Red Bull Max Verstappen’s father If Verstappen fired a harsh text in the Dutch media.
Jos Verstappen already reminded of his previous comments. He was afraid that the team would split in half even when, after the team’s internal investigation, Horner was allowed to continue his duties.
– In terms of internal peace, it would be important for the key personnel to stay involved. Now that hasn’t happened. Newey is on his way out and earlier this year it looked like (Red Bull F1 team advisor) Helmut Marko would be put aside. The future does not look good, Jos Verstappen expressed his concerns to De Telegraaf magazine.
Urheilu opens up about how Newey’s departure can even completely change the balance of power in the F1 series and also affect the situation of the only Finnish driver in the series at the moment.
1. Valtteri Bottas can benefit from Red Bull’s turmoil
Even before the start of the season, there was speculation as to how Max Verstappen could move to Mercedes due to the drama. After the latest comments from Jos Verstappen, the rumors became relevant again. So Newey’s departure can be reflected in the driver market as well.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz has been speculated to move to the wheel of Audi. According to F1 media information, Red Bull and Mercedes have also been interested in Sainz, who performed strongly this season.
Sainz’s situation is also interesting from a Finnish perspective, because the Spaniard’s decision also affects the Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas to the F1 future.
Bottas has made it his number one goal to continue his career at Audi. Sauber will change to Audi for 2026, but the change is already being prepared.
Bottas’ goal took a hit last week when Sauber announced Nico Hülkenberg’s to be Audi’s first driver attachment. Hülkenberg will join the team for next season.
Audi, which will become Sauber, therefore has only one place left. Even if Sainz does not move to Audi, Bottas’ shares will continue to improve in the team. Red Bull’s turmoil can therefore help Bottas.
Sainz could become an even stronger candidate for Red Bull if Verstappen decides to continue his career elsewhere. Sainz raced for Red Bull’s second team Toro Rosso at the start of his F1 career with Verstappen.
– Sainz has a good chance to return to Red Bull’s camp, because clearly there is also a similar transaction going on in the background to get Verstappen to move to another team, Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh evaluate Jos Verstappen’s speeches.
Regardless of Sainz or Verstappen’s decisions, Jukka Mildh sees that Bottas still has a chance to continue his F1 career.
According to Mildh, the Finn could be a good driver duo with Hülkenberg, but Bottas’ future would not necessarily be unequivocally wonderful at Audi either.
Mildh interprets that Hülkenberg is currently Audi’s number one driver, because according to media reports, Audi specifically wanted a German driver for its F1 project.
– For Bottas, Hülkenberg’s Audi contract can be a good thing, but it is also an alarming thing about what kind of position he can get in the team. This can affect Valtteri having to find a new address, Mildh sums up.
A former F1 driver working as an expert for Sky Sports in Germany Ralf Schumacher could you this week that Bottas will continue his career at Haas as Hülkenberg’s replacement.
Like Schumacher, Mildh sees Haas as a good alternative after Audi.
– Haas is perhaps not the most motivating place in the world, but you really need a tough driver there. Now that Hülkenberg leaves and another driver Kevin Magnussen is in a rather fluctuating state and drives a little too much with emotions, Haas needs to gain rationality, says Mildh.
2. Max Verstappen can make a record deal
If Max Verstappen wants to move somewhere, F1 expert Mildh thinks that Mercedes is the most reasonable solution.
The F1 media have already speculated that Mercedes could offer Verstappen the biggest contract in F1 history.
Mercedes could of media information to offer Verstappen an annual salary of 150 million euros, which would also include bonuses.
– Such a deal and agreement has not yet been made in F1 history, which Verstappen could do now in this situation. If he wants to negotiate further, there are certain clauses in the contract with which he can get rid of Red Bull. Of course, Red Bull also increases stakes in such a situation, Mildh estimates.
3. Is Red Bull’s supremacy crumbling?
Autosport news on Wednesday that Adrian Newey’s number one choice for the future would be Ferrari.
Ferrari already made a hard capture earlier, when the Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton will join the team for next season. Now he can be joined by Newey, considered the best car designer of all time in the F1 series, when the cars will change radically for the 2026 season.
– Newey’s departure is a very hard blow for Red Bull. It will clearly change the dynamics between the stables, wherever he goes, Mildh estimates.
Mildh sees that Ferrari is now building a team manager by Frederic Vasseur leading an all-time dream team like Red Bull and previous Mercedes years.
– Ferrari currently needs a person like Newey and a know-how who represents a very non-Italian culture. In my opinion, the only way for Ferrari to develop at the moment is to get rid of that Italian way of doing things, Mildh says.