Newey addresses F1 future after Red Bull exit

Adrian Newey has addressed his future in F1 beyond his term with Red Bull, which will come to an end early next year.

Newey is regarded as one of F1's greatest-ever car designers and is responsible for a multitude of championship-winning challengers, including all of Red Bull's successful cars.

The Briton will bring his almost 20-year association with Red Bull to an end next year, stepping down as its chief technical officer.

Newey has been heavily linked to other projects over the last handful of months, including a switch to Aston Martin.

When asked by F1.com if he has another stint in him before calling time on F1, Newey said: “Ultimately, it’s not why I do the job. 

“From the age of 10 or 11 I always wanted to be a designer in motor racing, and I’ve managed to achieve that, so everything else is a bonus really.

“My passion has always been trying to add performance to cars, to race cars, so the rest is, of course, part of it, but it’s not what wakes me up and motivates me.”

RB17 hypercar fitting way to exit Red Bull

One of Newey's final involvement at Red Bull is with the RB17 hypercar, which was unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend.

“As it’s turned out, yes,” Newey replied when asked if the project marked a fitting end to his Red Bull term. 

“I mean, it was never intended that way, of course. When we started the car in very early 2021, I never kind of even considered that I would be no longer with the team come 2025, or going into Q2 of 2025, so in that sense yes, it is.”

Newey will continue to be involved in the hypercar project despite stepping back from his F1 duties at Red Bull.

“But, having said that, I will continue to be involved in the development of the RB17 through production and so forth. I’ve really put a lot of time into this in terms of evenings and weekends, trying to fit it in with F1.

“I certainly want to see it through to completion. The shareholders at Red Bull, Christian [Horner, Red Bull team principal], everybody else is very supportive of that, so I will be still involved on this side of things.”