Adrian Newey, regarded as one of F1’s best car designers of all time, contributed heavily to Williams’ and McLaren’s Championship success in the late 90s before joining Red Bull in 2006. Upon joining the Milton-Keyes-based outfit, however, the Brit had to deal with a rather unceremonious exit from his previous team.
In his book, ‘How to Build a Car’, Newey discusses about his “sad end” to his McLaren career. After meeting Red Bull bosses Christian Horner and Helmut Marko in 2005, he was convinced that the Austrian stable was a young-start-up team with potential for glittering success.
Leading its technical division was appealing to him, and midway into the 2005 campaign, Newey made up his mind. He decided to leave McLaren for Red Bull.
However, when then-boss Ron Dennis asked him to delay the announcement and Newey refused, the former asked for him to be escorted out of McLaren’s headquarters in Woking. Newey writes,
“I was allowed to pack my briefcase before being escorted out of the building. A rather sad end to my career at McLaren.”
For Newey, however, that wasn’t the saddest part. Dennis’ words at a subsequent awards show hurt the 65-year-old even more.
Ron Dennis’ scathing words for Adrian Newey
Adrian Newey then shed light on the scathing remarks Ron Dennis passed about him at the Autosport awards ceremony in Grosvenor House, London, later that year. Initially, Newey wondered if Dennis would mention his name and honor him since the McLaren car designed by him (MP4 20), won ‘Car of the Year’.
Newey was sitting at Red Bull’s table, and what Dennis said surprised him. The Briton writes,
“He told the room how I had left McLaren to join Red Bull because I wanted a quiet, low-pressure job, working for a team that would never succeed. Oh yes, and how I was doing it all for the money.”
Newey then recalled how Christian Horner, who was right next to him on the table, was angry with what Dennis had just said. Newey, however, was sure at that moment that he made the right decision to switch to Red Bull.
Fast forward to 2024, Newey has helped Red Bull design seven Championship-winning cars, a number that is likely to become eight by the end of the season when he departs Milton-Keynes.
