Adrian Newey reveals Red Bull F1 EXIT update as Christian Horner difficulties surface

Christian Horner and Adrian Newey — Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull

Newey reveals Red Bull EXIT update as Horner difficulties surface

Adrian Newey announced his Red Bull exit in 2024

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Wednesday 29 January 2025 19:49

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Adrian Newey has provided an update on his Red Bull exit after difficulties at the team have emerged for Christian Horner.

The Formula 1 design legend announced his departure from Red Bull last year, and signed with Aston Martin instead for the 2025 season.

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In a recent interview with Auto Motor und Sport, Newey has now revealed his reasons for making the switch in further depth.

"I think that goes back slightly, I think if you’d have said to me 12 months ago, would I be leaving Red Bull and then now ultimately starting again, I would’ve said, ‘no, you’re crazy'," he said.

"But for various reasons, I felt I wouldn’t be true to myself if I stayed at Red Bull so, the first difficult decision was exactly that, do I stay or not at Red Bull, so I obviously came to the conclusion that if I’m being honest with myself I couldn’t."

Adrian Newey announced his Red Bull exit in 2024

Adrian Newey will complete the switch to Aston Martin in March 2025

How will Horner deal with the loss of Newey?

Newey’s departure from Red Bull undoubtedly impacted Red Bull last season after the team had to contend with their decline in performance in a torrid year both on and off track.

Speaking exclusively to GPFans, former F1 boss and Drive to Survive star Guenther Steiner discussed the difficulties Horner faced in 2024, linking them to Newey’s exit alongside the departure of sporting director Jonathan Wheatley.

"I think you underestimated how hard the year was for Christian," Steiner said.

"I think he will remember the '24 years as [the] pretty s***tiest year of his life, you know, with all the stuff which happened, and so we have to give to him credit.

"He always stood up for it. You know, we don’t even talk about the beginning of the year, his private stuff, but then going into it, it’s pretty clear, they had that one driver in the team.

"They couldn’t defend the constructors’ world championship, because they had only one car.

Christian Horner was faced with difficulties on and off track in 2024

"Obviously, they lost some people. They lost Adrian [Newey], they lost Jonathan [Wheatley], they’re going to lose the strategy engineer Will Courtenay, which are all very good people.

"As much as Red Bull has got a good second line, these people are there a long time. They know the ins and outs, and sometimes having new blood in is good, but you need something – replacing an Adrian, it will be difficult.

"But only time will tell what Christian can make out of it, but I think it is not getting any easier for him in the moment."

Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

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Red Bull Formula 1 Christian Horner Aston Martin Adrian Newey