Adrian Newey reacts to Christian Horner 'abandon ship' criticism

Adrian Newey has responded to Christian Horner's claim that he was ready to "abandon ship" at Red Bull during the team's difficult start to the turbo-hybrid era in 2014, insisting his "pain and frustration" stemmed from Renault's failure to fix its problems.

Horner made the remark in reference to the opening season of the V6 hybrid regulations, when Red Bull's partnership with Renault produced a power unit that lagged badly behind Mercedes.

The Milton Keynes-based squad slipped to second in the constructors' championship that year with 405 points, almost 300 adrift of the dominant Silver Arrows, managing just three wins compared to Mercedes' 16.

The Aston Martin team principal, who left Red Bull in 2025 after two decades with the team, has now given his version of events from that period, pushing back on the suggestion he was looking for a way out, although it is known he was coveted by Ferrari.

Asked about Horner's comments, Newey explained his thinking around the 2014 campaign in detail.

"I think 2014, as a chassis designer then, if the PU manufacturer has a bad year, that happens, and you accept it," he said.

"If the PU manufacturer has a bad year and doesn't appear to have any intention of trying to address the problem, that's altogether a different matter, and that's quite bleak at that point.

"And that's the situation that, unfortunately, I faced in 2014.

"As it turned out, that situation didn't really change with that supplier until we changed to Honda in 2019.

"So you can imagine my pain and frustration at that. I don't think Christian fully understood that, perhaps.

"But I was in conversation."

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Horner 'blindsided'

Red Bull's issues with Renault stretched well beyond that single bad season, with reliability problems around the MGU-K persisting for many years before the team ended the partnership and switched to Honda power for 2019.

Horner's original comments painted a starker picture of the strain the 2014 season put on his relationship with Newey.

"At the first sign of adversity, Adrian wanted to abandon ship," Horner said. "I felt very sad about that. I couldn't rely on him any more. Our partnership was not as solid as I'd previously believed."

Those comments were to The Times to generate publicity for the upcoming release of his memoir, Drive.

Horner has also remarked that he felt "blindsided" by Newey's eventual move to Aston Martin.

Asked whether he had spoken with Horner about such comments, Newey, who confirmed he has not yet read the book, said: "The rest of it, I really can't comment.

"But Christian and I remain friends, and, as many of you know, I am his godfather to his daughter Olivia."