It emerged on Thursday that Newey had privately expressed to some members of the Red Bull team his desire to leave the Milton Keynes-based team.
Although the team remains dominant in F1, it is suggested that Newey is disillusioned by the fallout from the power battle that erupted earlier this year for control of the team, amid uncertainty over future of team boss Christian Horner.
However, sources have suggested that the situation is unclear and there has been no formal communication with the team’s senior management or Red Bull’s energy drink parent company over his departure. from his position as technical director.
Furthermore, sources indicated that no official resignation had been tendered.
The shock inevitably fueled rumors that Newey’s departure could open the door to a move to a big-money rival, with Ferrari and Aston Martin trying to lure him on board.
Both teams would benefit from Newey’s input as they set ambitious targets to put themselves ahead of F1.
Watch: Adrian Newey set to leave Red Bull
Ferrari will be strengthened by the arrival of Lewis Hamilton next year, and a switch from Newey there would see him work with both the Italian team and the seven-time world champion for the first time.
However, it is questionable whether or not Newey would want to go through a major life upheaval and move to Maranello – and potentially find himself in a situation that could be just as politically complex as Red Bull.
Aston Martin has also attempted to lure Newey, with Autosport recently revealing that owner Lawrence Stroll had personally made an offer to lure him.
Stroll has an ambitious vision for the Silverstone-based team, and a move there for Newey would be logistically easier for him and see him renew a working relationship with Dan Fallows after the two men worked closely collaboration at Red Bull for several years.
But the situation around Newey is incredibly complex, especially when it comes to his contractual arrangements.
As Red Bull made clear in a statement on Thursday evening, Newey’s current contract, which was signed early last year, currently commits him to working at the team until the end of 2025.
However, it is also understood that there are other non-complete contract clauses that could prevent him from joining one of Red Bull’s rivals for a further 12 months – which, in theory, would make him unavailable to another team until 2027.
This delay would minimize Newey’s contribution until early 2028, which is well into the next rules cycle when teams will have already been heavily committed to their next regulatory challengers.
By then, Newey would be almost 70 years old and likely on the verge of retirement after a successful F1 career.
The other potential scenario that could happen is that Newey could look to walk away from F1 altogether rather than going all-in with another team.
He is known to be excited about other projects, such as Red Bull’s RB17 hypercar, but continuing work on that project would require him to remain part of the Milton Keynes-based operation rather than be outside.
The only way for Newey to accelerate his move to a rival would be to reach an agreement between all interested parties – himself, Red Bull and a new team – to buy out the terms of his current contract.
However, such a deal would likely be extremely expensive, as Red Bull would be reluctant to let him go cheaply as it could give an early advantage to a competitor.
