Adrian Newey hasn’t spoken at length about why he wanted to leave Red Bull except for the handful of interviews and podcast appearances he has made ever since his Aston Martin switch became official. On the High-Performance podcast, back in September, Newey revealed that he started to feel stale at the team, which resulted in him having thoughts of leaving them.
However, the Briton did not explicitly reveal when these feelings became prominent in his mind. Per BBC’s F1: Chequered Flag podcast, Newey revealed that it was around the 2024 Japanese GP weekend in Suzuka last April. “I, for various reasons, felt around Suzuka times, that it’s time for me to move on from Red Bull.”
Apparently, this is a conversation the BBC has made public only recently but had got Newey‘s byte before the Briton’s official unveiling as Aston Martin’s new Managing technical partner in September last year.
The former Red Bull CTO also stated that he had “no idea” about what he was going to do after leaving the Milton Keynes-based outfit, a team he had been with for almost two decades. At some point, Newey also considered retirement as an option to give time to his family.
However, having decided that he did not want to call time on his career just yet, he had to decide whether he wanted to stick in F1 or move to another racing category.
The America’s Cup, which is actually a sailing competition, was also an option for Newey to consider to ply his trade. However, the passion for designing cars at the pinnacle of motorsport still triumphed in his mind.
How did Newey choose Aston Martin?
There were multiple teams in line coveting Newey’s services as soon as the reports about his Red Bull exit started materializing into reality. Ferrari and Aston Martin were the most prominent ones who wanted to sign the British aero genius.
Besides them, Mercedes and Williams were also briefly interested. Eventually, it all came down to the Scuderia, which had been a dream destination for Newey. However, it was a surprising turn of events when Ferrari started to lose interest as their ideas did not align with Newey.
This turned out to be a massive boost for Aston Martin and their owner Lawrence Stroll, who has reportedly been chasing the then-Red Bull CTO’s signature since February 2024. There were reports of the Canadian inviting Newey for a private tour of Aston Martin’s Silverstone factory and also offering him a staggering $200 million deal for five years.
Aston Martin’s effort to secure #F1 design legend Adrian Newey has moved up a gear with a secret factory visit according to sources
FULL STORY ✍️: https://t.co/Skbu9YguRy pic.twitter.com/m0NypSaX3t
— Autosport (@autosport) June 20, 2024
The Briton stated, however, that money wasn’t his primary motivation. Newey resonated with Stroll’s championship ambitions and his willingness to invest for that success in the coming future. ]
Additionally, Newey wanted a challenge where he could help a midfield team — something similar to his Red Bull move back in 2005 — become a race-winning and world-champion outfit at the pinnacle of motorsport.
