Lewis Hamilton created a storm with the announcement of his Ferrari deal for 2025 before the start of the season. Many believed nothing could trump that, but they perhaps couldn’t be more wrong. Adrian Newey became the talk of the town with rumors of his exit from Red Bull surfacing. As the team made it official in the build-up to the Miami GP, speculations over his next destination started. Amidst all this chaos, his manager, Eddie Jordan, may have accidentally dropped a major hint.
In a special feature for Oyster Yachts, Jordan, while asking Newey a question, said, “This guy [Newey] is an absolute killer on a bike and it’s a crap bike. When we get the next deal from Zak [Brown, McLaren CEO] or whoever it might be, a proper new bike will be part of the contract.”
Did Eddie just let slip something he shouldn’t have? Is Adrian really going orange and not red? #F1 pic.twitter.com/PaYzSrE9tt
— Simon Dau (@there_is_no_if) May 17, 2024
Until Jordan’s comment, experts believed Ferrari and Aston Martin to be the only contenders vying for Newey’s signature. The 65-year-old had reportedly held multiple meetings with the Maranello side. On the other hand, Aston Martin were reported to already have placed a lucrative offer.
McLaren, meanwhile, always maintained Newey was a high-value asset that any team would love to have. They, however, never confirmed to be in touch either with him or with his manager. That makes it seem like a deal might just be in place but the Papaya team could be keeping it under the carpet until anything concrete happens.
The deal would certainly make more sense for Adrian Newey, though. Ever since working in Indycar in America, and eventually divorcing his first wife, he has never been in favor of working outside the UK. A move to McLaren in Woking would keep that commitment of his intact.
Adrian Newey unhappy with the way Red Bull announced his departure
Adrian Newey was reported to be disgruntled with the ongoing power tussle at Red Bull. That, many believe, is the prime reason for him to leave the team he has won 13 championships with.
His disappointment with the team did not end there, though. Red Bull announced his impending exit on May 1, 2024, the day that marked the 30th death anniversary of three-time champion Ayrton Senna. Speaking about it in the same interview with Eddie Jordan, Newey said,
“Miami is a really strange race for me because the news had just broken in the press on a very unfortunate day. It was the 1st of May, which was that horrible 30th-year anniversary of the horrible events of Imola. So, it was very difficult and unfortunate day for that press release to come out.”
Newey further slammed Red Bull for keeping him on the pit wall for the race weekend while he was not allowed to give any input. He further let his disappointment known for being paraded around for media interviews.
As per Red Bull’s press release, Adrian Newey has stopped working on their F1 car. His sole focus will remain on their hypercar project, the RB17. Once that project is complete, Newey will be free to leave in the first quarter of 2025.
