Has Adrian Newey’s Exit Caused Red Bull Problems? Max Verstappen Shares His Theory

Red Bull announced Adrian Newey’s exit right before the Miami GP weekend. Surprisingly, the race in Florida was the one where McLaren convincingly beat Red Bull, as Lando Norris won. With the RB20 dropping down in the performance index, questions about the impact of Newey’s exit on the car were bound to be asked. Max Verstappen now shares his take on the same.

According to Motorsport, when asked if Newey’s exit is the reason behind Red Bull’s struggles, Verstappen replied, “Normally not. Since the announcement that he is leaving, things have of course become more difficult. But it should not be the case that someone leaves and that the performance is immediately lower since the car is still the same. Normally that is not possible.”

Asked whether Newey’s departure is a reason for Red Bull’s struggle, Max Verstappen says: “Normally not. Since the announcement that he is leaving, things have of course become more difficult.”

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Perez and Verstappen previously stated that Newey’s role wasn’t limited to the car’s design. The aero mastermind could be seen on the grid with his notebook and also used to be involved in the strategic decisions made during the race.

It was reported that Newey didn’t have a huge influence on the RB20 design with Pierre Wache taking the lead. The Briton wanted to change a few aspects of the design of the RB20 with new updates, but unfortunately, his exit became official before the team brought any major packages.

On the other hand, McLaren’s aggressive upgrade strategy being effective on track played a major role in Red Bull losing its dominance. The 65-year-old will leave Red Bull after the first quarter of 2025. However, he is yet to confirm which other team will he be joining on the grid.

Currently, Newey is mainly involved in the RB17 hypercar project and has seemingly taken a step back from the Austrian team’s F1 car development.

Newey’s absence being felt at Red Bull

Whenever a big name like Hamilton or Newey leaves the team they’ve achieved great success with, the morale of the whole team drops. Red Bull has had a tough year that started with Christian Horner’s investigation, followed by Newey’s exit and now Jonathan Wheatley moving to Audi. 

Amid all this, Wache told Formula1.com how Newey’s exit is being felt by employees at the factory, but they continue to focus on making the car better. He said, “People really liked him as a person, and now he’s leaving. We are completely focused on our work if I have to be honest. We currently have three cars to work on.”

With Newey and Wheatley’s exits, there is a lot of reshuffling going on in Red Bull’s organizational structure to fill their vacuum. The Milton Keynes outfit is keen on trusting the talent it has and will promote from within.

Currently, Wache seems set to take over Newey’s role as the technical honcho while Red Bull considering splitting Wheatley’s responsibilities into two personnel.