‘Tired’ Adrian Newey drops big F1 return hint following Red Bull departure

Adrian Newey has given the clearest indication yet he will not retire from Formula 1, explaining that he is likely to “probably go again” after a bit of a break.

Speculation has been ongoing about the great designer’s next move after the announcement that he will leave Red Bull in the first quarter of 2025, and one key consideration had been whether or not he will remain in Formula 1 at all having now passed his 65th birthday.

Adrian Newey: ‘I’ll probably go again’ after a break

With Ferrari, Aston Martin and Williams all said to be interested in his signature, Newey explained that he will be taking some time away from the sport before coming to a decision over what happens next.

He has already stepped back from Formula 1 design duties with Red Bull to focus on the completion of the RB17 hypercar project, which is set to feature a ‘greatest hits’ compilation of his F1 innovations in a track car – before departing the team entirely in the first quarter of 2025.

There would be no gardening leave restrictions after that moment either, leaving him free to join any of Red Bull’s rivals should he so choose.

In revealing that he is likely to take up another challenge in Formula 1, Newey revealed the influence that two elder statesmen in motorsport have had in helping make up his mind, as well as offering an insight into his family and how he does not want to switch his mind off from work entirely.

“I mean, popular question at the moment,” Newey said in an interview with Eddie Jordan with Oyster Yachts when asked what his future holds.

“If you’d asked me 15 years ago, at the age of 65, would I seriously be considering changing teams, going somewhere else and doing another four or five years, I’d have said you’re absolutely mad.

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“And then I think a few things happened at once. My dad who was a vet, he was a huge car enthusiast, which I guess that’s obviously where things rubbed off on me. Anyway, he wanted to retire when he was 60, and he kind of semi-retired at 62, moved up with my mum to Yorkshire and then did locums until he was 65, and then he was fully retired.

“If I’m honest, it’s slightly emotional to say it, but he kind of lost his way a bit in his retirement. I thought he’d be very happy to continue to tinker around on cars and stuff, and he just lost his mojo a bit.

“A kind of combination of that, and then two of the people that I respect the most, Bernie [Ecclestone] and Roger Penske, I asked them both, “What’s your secret?’ Because they’ve kept going and going and for their age, they’re phenomenally mentally agile and physically agile.

“They both said that old thing that the brain is like a muscle, it needs exercise, and so you need to keep doing that.

“Also, I’ve wanted to work in motor racing as a designer since I was the age of eight or 10, and I’ve been lucky enough to fulfil that ambition, to have got that first job and been in motor racing ever since – and so every day has just been a bonus really.

“I just love what I do. So at some point, I guess I’ll have a bit of a holiday. As Forrest Gump said at the end of his long run, ‘I feel a little bit tired at the moment’, but at some point, I’ll probably go again.”

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