Helmut Marko feared that Red Bull would experience a huge vacuum if Adrian Newey left. Now, the Austrian’s fear will come to reality with the British designer leaving in early 2025. Marko explained that since Newey was feeling demotivated at Red Bull, he decided to leave the team.
The 81-year-old told Sky Germany, according to @Vetteleclerc on Twitter (now X), that Newey had a burnout feeling. Oftentimes, such a lack of motivation for any individual needs them to take a sabbatical or exit the organization altogether.
Helmut Marko said to Sky Germany that Newey had a little bit of a burnout feeling [loss of motivation] hence why he left but Marko fears that his motivation will come back after a certain time period has passed and then he will be at another team.#MiamiGP
— tami. (@Vetteleclerc) May 3, 2024
Newey has chosen the latter option with his situation at Red Bull. Although Marko thinks the motivation will come back for the 65-year-old, by then, the British aerodynamicist would be on another team.
Currently, there are multiple teams in the fray to sign Newey. The strongest possibility right now leads Newey to be at Ferrari in 2025.
However, other teams like Aston Martin may also want to pursue the Red Bull genius. Meanwhile, Autosport also reported that even his former employers, Williams, are trying to negotiate and sign him.
Adrian Newey’s history with Williams
Williams boss James Vowles recently had a conversation with Adrian Newey during the Miami GP weekend. Vowles told Autosport, “I’ve known Adrian for a while anyway, and I spoke to him Friday. I’m sure we’ll be talking again, very shortly as well.”
Vowles highlighted how Newey helped both McLaren and Red Bull become champion teams since his last stint at Williams. It was back in 1996-97 when Newey last worked at the Grove-based outfit. Now, Vowles fancies a return for the 65-year-old to his old team.
He said, “It would be remiss of me to not be talking to him. It is as simple as that.”
However, Newey would think twice before heading back to Grove, given how he had a big fallout when he left in ’97. Ever since then, Williams have struggled to be a top team and have regressed to become a backmarker.
However, Newey could also retire or take a sabbatical from F1, as per Eddie Jordan. The Irishman spoke on the Formula for Success podcast to cite how the “pressure” at Red Bull may lead Newey to take some much-needed time off.