‘Problem’ spotted with Adrian Newey’s Red Bull exit ahead of $100m Aston Martin deal
Adrian Newey will take his trusty notebook to Aston Martin
With Adrian Newey reportedly heading for Aston Martin, the true “problem” Red Bull could face is the F1 design guru taking his “ideas” to a rival team, claims Robin Frijns.
Having been part of Red Bull since 2006, the bombshell announcement was made that Newey’s time with the team was over, as he prepares to fully exit Red Bull early in 2025, seeing out the remainder of his association by working on the RB17 hypercar project.
Adrian Newey ‘ideas’ going to rivals could be Red Bull ‘problem’
It was in the lead-up to the Miami Grand Prix that the Newey exit news dropped, Max Verstappen finishing that race P2 as the rise of McLaren to race-winning performance was launched, with both McLaren and Mercedes having since whittled away Red Bull’s former dominance.
However, Le Mans class winner Robin Frijns does not believe Red Bull’s dominance fading away can be linked to Newey’s exit.
“With Red Bull, or rather Max, no longer half a second faster than the rest, you can see the team making mistakes with strategy,” he told Formule1.nl.
“Still striking. After all, Red Bull is the norm, really, in everything.
“People wonder if the decline might be due to Adrian Newey leaving. Personally, I don’t think so.
“Newey is the most experienced man at Red Bull in terms of aerodynamics. But a lot of people within the team have been trained by him. He really doesn’t make the car alone either. If Newey drops out, the Red Bull train will really keep going.”
However, where Frijns believes Red Bull could have a “problem” – as Newey reportedly closes in on an Aston Martin deal worth $100million – is the risk that Newey takes his ideas to a rival, Newey a specialist on ground effect aerodynamics.
“What could become a problem, though: Newey taking his ideas to another team,” Frijns noted.
More details on Adrian Newey’s final Red Bull contribution: The RB17
? Red Bull RB17: The £5million hypercar that now has Adrian Newey’s full focus
? Adrian Newey to Aston Martin slip-up as Fernando Alonso game goes wrong
And Frijns believes that Aston Martin are the team where Newey will end up, the 65-year-old – whose designs have accounted for 25 F1 title successes – having initially been linked with Ferrari before the Aston Martin speculation began to gather momentum.
At this stage in life, Frijns does not believe the appeal of Ferrari and moving to Italy would be strong for Newey.
“By the way, I expect him to go to Aston Martin, not Ferrari,” Frijns declared. “Newey wants to live comfortably in England in his old age.”
Before the 13 title successes with Red Bull, Newey also designed title-winning cars for Williams and McLaren.
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