Adrian Newey has played a huge role in helping Red Bull succeed since he joined the Milton-Keynes-based outfit in 2006. In 2025, however, he will leave the team. His manager and former F1 boss Eddie Jordan orchestrated his exit – something Christian Horner wasn’t pleased about.
Newey had expressed his desire to leave his role at Red Bull multiple times this year. Since then, Jordan had been working flat-out to ensure that the 65-year-old could negotiate his way out of his Red Bull contract. Horner confronted Jordan about this, the first chance he got.
As reported by Formula Passion, Jordan told his Formula for Success co-host, David Coulthard,
“Do you know what he called me when he found this? First of all, his jaw was close to the ground, and it’s a pretty big jaw, but he called me: ‘Ah, Eddie, you’re a f**ker, silent killer ‘ .”
: Eddie Jordan on the Christian Horner situation
“I’ve seen a lot of bad decisions. But the Red Bull situation is the most absurd thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Does anyone seriously believe that the employee made the accusations out of thin air? If Horner is innocent, is she… pic.twitter.com/q0Av4ysLlm
— Motorsport 24 (@Motorsport24NA) February 26, 2024
Rumors of Newey wanting to leave Red Bull grew stronger ever since the controversy surrounding Christian Horner emerged. After weeks and months of speculation, Newey and Red Bull finally made the exit official.
Red Bull publicly insists that their internal restructuring will ensure that they don’t miss Newey too much. But McLaren CEO Zak Brown feels that the 65-year-old leaving the Austrian stable will create a domino effect.
Christian Horner may lose more people to the toxic Red Bull environment
Horner was under investigation, owing to a former female employee of Red Bull filing a complaint for inappropriate behavior against the British boss. The grievances against him were dismissed, but the mood within was still grim.
Brown believes that Newey’s exit will trigger a series of resignations in the months moving forward. As quoted by Formu1a.uno, the American said,
“My guess is [that Adrian Newey leaving] is not the last, based on the resumes that are flying around. Red Bull is a pretty toxic environment with everything that’s been going on. There is more to come.”
Max Verstappen is currently the “most prominent” candidate to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, according to #AMuS #AMuS claims that “more and more clues suggest that the sensational transfer could take place.”
Could we really see Verstappen driving for Mercedes in 2025?? pic.twitter.com/btwf7QEeoc
— Mercedes-AMG F1 News (@MercedesNewsUK) March 4, 2024
Three-time World Champion Max Verstappen too, is reportedly frustrated with the situation behind the scenes at Red Bull. Because of the same, he was, and still is, linked with a move to Mercedes.
Brown’s comments could be an ominous prediction that has come to fruition this season. With instability creeping into Milton Keynes, the team has already lost its dominant grip on the championship as the likes of Ferrari and McLaren have started to catch up.
