With Christian Horner’s tenure at Red Bull now in jeopardy, Adrian Newey‘s future with the team has also come up in various speculations. Media outlets have theorized an exit clause in Newey’s deal if Horner were to leave. Ex-Ferrari manager Peter Windsor has suggested his old team lap the British engineer up for a whopping $1 billion.
On the one hand, Windsor does urge Ferrari to splash the cash if Newey becomes available, however, on the other hand he cites the 65-year old’s track record with Williams and McLaren to explain why it would actually not be such a good idea on Newey’s part.
On his YouTube channel, Windsor spoke about the possible ramifications of Horner’s imminent sacking if the investigation went south on Friday, when the decision is reportedly about to come. Windsor feels that if Ferrari were to invest a billion dollars into Newey, they would be paid back in full with more than a couple of championships down the line.
However, his stints at Williams and McLaren, though very successful in terms of titles, came to an acrimonious end due to inter-team politics. Ferrari is infamous for the very same thing, which made Windsor question if Newey would actually be up for such a job despite the paycheck involved.
Christian Horner and Newey’s contract seemingly has an exit clause that allows either of the two to break free of the Milton-Keynes-based team if the other one leaves. Windsor believes that if Horner is sacked, Newey would be contemplating retirement. However, a $1 billion paycheck could exactly be the thing that would lure him to change his mind.
Red Bull is on the verge of collapse as Ferrari aims to gain momentum
Adrian Newey has been the single biggest person responsible for getting the team to the dominant run that it enjoys today. The RB19, which will go down as arguably the greatest car this sport has seen with 21 wins out of 22 races, was designed by the Briton. The same is true with every championship-winning car the Milton Keynes team has put out since 2013.
Naturally, losing Newey could spell disaster for the team. If Horner is actually sacked for his alleged transgressions, then chances are that Newey would want to follow suit and depart from the team. With the 2026 regulations right on the horizon, the team could miserably collapse and be out of contention for wins, let alone another title after 2024.
Dear @amanda_newey,
Every F1 fan has dreamed of your husband Adrian Newey working at Ferrari. We have also dreamed of him working with Lewis Hamilton.
Please pass this message along as it would be the perfect end chapter to his career
Clinton
XOXO #F12024 pic.twitter.com/8lGcAs8ENn— Clinton Desveaux (@ClintonDesveaux) February 3, 2024
It could be a bigger blow for the team if Newey actually decided to jump ship for a rival like Ferrari. What’s more, if Newey does decide to leave Red Bull for Ferrari, he would be teaming up to form an iconic partnership with Lewis Hamilton, who would like nothing more than to dethrone Red Bull and claim that elusive 8th world title.
