Christian Horner reveals bizarre way he found out Newey wanted to leave Red Bull

Christian Horner has revealed the bizarre manner in which he found out that design genius Adrian Newey wanted to leave Red Bull.

The 67-year-old Newey ended a spell of almost two decades in Milton Keynes when it was announced in May 2024 that he would be joining Aston Martin in 2025.

It brought to a close a glorious partnership between Horner and Newey, which had delivered 14 championships to Red Bull - eight Drivers' titles and six Constructors'.

Now the 52-year-old Horner has revealed how he found out about Newey's exit on a phone call, while the legendary designer was sat in an office right across from him.

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Horner reveals awkward Newey confrontation

Horner, writing in his new memoir 'Drive' (which will be released on Thursday October 22), explained: "‘He’s written to one of the shareholders,’ said a Red Bull advisor. ‘He’s leaving.’

"Adrian’s office was opposite mine. A glass wall separated the two spaces, and whenever I looked up, I saw him working. At that moment, he was standing behind his drawing board, sketching away. Why didn’t he tell me himself? I thought.

"I felt blindsided. I put the phone down and walked across to his office. ‘I’ve just been informed you’re—’ Adrian put his hand up. ‘I don’t want to talk about this,’ he said. ‘You need to speak to my manager . . .’"

Horner had negotiated new contracts with Newey in the recent past, but never with a manager. He was stunned by the entire narrative.

"‘So, who’s your manager?’ Adrian looked at his drawing board. ‘Eddie Jordan.’

"I was amazed. Eddie Jordan? I’d honestly thought he was joking. Eddie was a nice guy who had achieved a great deal in Formula One. But I couldn’t imagine a working dynamic between him and Adrian.

"‘You need to speak to him,’ said Adrian, seriously."

Horner pressed Newey, explaining his sadness about the way this situation had arisen.

"‘Look, Adrian. If you really want to leave or do something different, I’m not going to stand in your way. We’re old enough and ugly enough to sort this out between us.’

"He softened a little. ‘Things just feel different now,’ he said."

Horner reflects on difficult Newey departure

Horner realised that Newey was bent on leaving Red Bull, and realised that in the end the parting of the ways would be the best thing for the team.

But there was still one surprise in store, and it concerned how Newey's departure was made public.

Horner continued: "What I didn’t expect Adrian to do was announce his signing with Aston Martin at a press conference one morning, while still working as a Red Bull employee.

"He then returned to Milton Keynes for his lunch in the staff canteen the next day as if nothing had happened."

Newey had nearly left Red Bull for Ferrari in 2014

This was of course not the first time a Newey Red Bull departure had been on the cards, remember we are talking about the man widely acclaimed as the foremost design influence in a number of F1 generations.

Newey was a prize asset for any team - there is no greater guarantee of a world title for a top driver than a Newey-designed car.

Back in 2014 the Englishman had come very close to leaving for Ferrari - according to Horner a package had been agreed with the Italian team which would allow him to live in Monaco, commute to work by helicopter and have complete technical freedom.

On that occasion Horner and Red Bull managed to persuade Newey to stay, but this time they could not. The Aston Martin move was confirmed, ending one of the most successful partnerships in F1 history.

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Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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