Adrian Newey’s Red Bull F1 travel plans change following Aston Martin reveal

Adrian Newey won’t be traveling with Red Bull to any more races over the remainder of the F1 2024 season.

The 65-year-old remains an active employee of Red Bull Technology, working on the RB17 hypercar until he leaves for his new employer to begin work at Aston Martin on March 1st 2025.

Adrian Newey F1 travel plans change following Aston Martin event

Earlier this week, Newey was unveiled in a celebratory press session at Aston Martin’s brand-new factory at Silverstone, as team owner Lawrence Stroll couldn’t hide his delight at triumphing over rival teams in securing Newey’s signature.

Newey has been an integral part of Red Bull for almost two decades, contributing towards all of their race and championship-winning cars before making the decision to depart for a new challenge earlier this year – he had hinted at taking an extended break from F1, citing being “a bit tired” after almost 40 years at the forefront of motorsport.

However, while Newey is in a period in which he isn’t actively working on the development of the RB20, he remains an active employee of the Red Bull Technology company and continues to work on the RB17 hypercar.

It could thus be seen as unusual that Newey, as an employee of a rival F1 team, was presented in person by Aston Martin – to the backdrop of Aston Martin logos – as he was confirmed as taking up a shareholding in the Silverstone-based squad and taking on the Technical Managing Partner role that has been created for him.

Usually, such announcements are taken care of via a press release – an example of a high-profile employee being announced earlier this year was Lewis Hamilton being confirmed as joining Ferrari in F1 2025.

Hamilton remains actively employed by Mercedes and has not been pictured in Ferrari clothing or branding, nor in the Scuderia’s garage or at Maranello, or even associating with future teammate Charles Leclerc beyond what could be seen as standard trackside socialising – Hamilton even continues to refuse to sign Ferrari-related photos for fans, and bats away media questions related to his upcoming Ferrari switch.

Newey’s in-person attendance at a rival’s factory was made even more unusual by his immediate return to Red Bull’s factory after the Aston Martin ceremony in order to resume work on his now-usual duties with the RB17 hypercar.

The nature of the unveiling is understood to have resulted in a decision being made to take Newey off the traveling team for the races left on his schedule in F1 2024, which included next month’s United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Newey, together with his wife Amanda, has embarked on a holiday this weekend, before returning for his final months of employment with Red Bull.

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An interview with former F1 presenter Jake Humphrey on his High Performance Podcast is also understood to have raised eyebrows at Red Bull after Newey claimed he has not been part of the F1 team since the Japanese Grand Prix – the race at which he has explained he made his decision to depart Milton Keynes.

Red Bull claimed a 1-2 finish at Suzuka, with the upgrade package introduced that weekend aiding Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to dominate the Japanese round.

Since that race, Newey attended Miami, Monaco, and Silverstone as part of the Red Bull race team, actively participating in the garage and on the pit wall during sessions.

“I have been out of the Formula 1 team since after Suzuka, whenever that was – late April, but I have still been working hard on the RB17 road car which is a side project,” Newey said.

“I will still be working on that until after that March 1st date but not from the factory as much, it will be more talking to the guys via video conference and emails and when the car starts track testing in the summer and attending the track testing.”

Speaking to media in Baku, Christian Horner spoke of his surprise at seeing the very public nature of Newey’s announcement at Aston Martin, having been caught unawares by the nature of the reveal.

“Yes, it was obviously a large announcement by Aston,” said Horner, “and you know, Adrian has always tended to do his own thing.

“Obviously it was a big moment for that team, and they chose to celebrate it, perhaps potentially slightly prematurely, before he’s finished his contract with Red Bull Racing. But obviously, it was a big moment for that team.”

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