Claim emerges that Red Bull exit has been on Adrian Newey’s mind “for some time”

Leaving Red Bull has been on legendary F1 car designer Adrian Newey’s mind “for some time”, Martin Brundle has claimed.

Ahead of this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix Red Bull confirmed that Newey will depart the team after nearly two decades in early 2025.

According to former F1 driver turned pundit and commentator Brundle, Newey has been weighing up an exit from Red Bull for “a long time”.

"I know Adrian quite well and this move has been in his mind for some time,” Brundle told Sky.

"It nearly happened a couple of years ago and obviously he's been courted by many teams for some decades because of his incredible success rate. Teams he joins, quite quickly start winning World Championships. That's just a fact as those stats prove.

"I don't think it's all about what is happening at Red Bull earlier on in the season, I think there are a number of factors. This has been in his mind for a long time.

"He does 150 days a year at Red Bull. Adrian has had his mind on other things - hypercars, Americas Cup boats, he's got some beautiful race cars of his own that he loves to race,

"Adrian has been moving towards this for some time.”

The news has prompted a frantic scramble to try and secure the 65-year-old’s services, with Ferrari the current favourites to poach Newey. Williams are also known to have started talks. 

2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button says whoever signs Newey will get an immediate boost.

“Even just walking in the door makes a difference, even before he’s done anything,” Button said.

“Even before pencil to paper, just having him in your presence, you know what he’s achieved in the past and what he brings to the team.

“My whole career was against his cars and it was very tough.

“Red Bull understood that at some point that Adrian Newey was going to leave, so the designers and aerodynamicists underneath him have a good understanding of how that is going to work in the future when he’s left.

“So I’m not worried about Red Bull. But it’s exciting. Every team is going to want him to be working for them.”

While Brundle has tipped Newey to join Ferrari, Button reckons he will stay in the UK.

“I think he’ll stay UK based,” he said. “It’s a big deal to move to Italy. So maybe Mercedes?”