No surprise “high-integrity” Newey left Red Bull after recent events

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown says Adrian Newey’s departure from Red Bull comes as no surprise “given everything that’s gone on since the start of the year.”

“Six months ago, I would have been surprised,” said Brown when asked about Newey’s decision to leave the team, which was announced earlier this week.

“I think given everything that’s gone on since the start of the year and knowing Adrian pretty well, and he’s a very high-integrity individual, I’m not surprised he’s moving on.”

Red Bull have been the focus of speculation since before the season began, after allegations were made by a staff member regarding team principal Christian Horner. An internal investigation dismissed the claims, but the staff member has brought an appeal against the decision, while being suspended by the team.

While Newey said he chose to leave the team in order to pursue a new challenge, Brown believes the situation at Red Bull was also a factor, and expects others will follow.

“The stuff that’s going on there is a bit destabilising,” said Brown in yesterday’s FIA press conference. “It’s probably the first domino to fall.”

“We’ve seen an increase in CVs coming our way from the team,” Brown added. “I think Adrian is the most successful designer of all time. So in addition to the technical that he brings to the Racing team, people want to work for people like Adrian Newey and work alongside him.

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“So I think they will be missing what he brings to the team from a pure technical point of view. And then I think the leadership and the excitement people get from working with him will be missed.”

Mike Krack, James Vowles, Zak Brown — Brown believes Newey is “the first domino to fall” at Red Bull

Newey joined Red Bull from McLaren in 2006, a decade before Brown took charge at the team, but he downplayed the possibility of trying to bring the designer back to Woking.

“As far as McLaren’s concerned, I’m very happy with all the work the men and women at McLaren are doing. I think we’ve started to show since last year, second half of last year, that they know how to put performance on the car.

“So I’ve got all the faith in the world with the team that we have. We’re on a quest to get back to the front, and I think we have the people, the talent, the equipment, the drivers to get there, so we’re going to just stay the course.”

James Vowles, who like Brown runs a team Newey once worked for under different management, said he’d only had “a light conversation” with Newey, “saying it can’t have been an easy decision and fundamentally wanting just to have an additional chat about things.”

However he believes a return to Williams would offer a lot to Newey, who designed championship-winning cars for them in the nineties.

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“From a Williams perspective, obviously, that’s where Adrian really cut his teeth for the first time. And I think we’re a team without politics. It’s a small team that’s trying to make our way back to the front and I think it could fit very perfectly for someone that wants to potentially dig into a challenge like that.

“More than that, what is great about Williams is that it has retained the family feel to it. We’re not driven by an [original equipment manufacturer]. We’re driven by just a group of individuals that want to be there. It’s all about really Racing and hopefully some of that plays to his strengths.

“Then, finally, with Adrian, you have someone with his accolades, with his touch. There’s not a team he hasn’t been to – and that includes McLaren, ourselves, Red Bull – where he hasn’t made a significant difference. And I think anyone here would be foolish not to at least open some conversation with him at that stage.”

Aston Martin has also been tipped by some as a potential destination for Newey. Its team principal, Mike Krack, predicted his exit will have an effect on the team, but stressed he is satisfied with their current set-up led by former Red Bull designer Dan Fallows.

“I think the record and the history speaks for itself. If someone like that is leaving a team, it’s always causing say the turmoil that it is creating. I think we speak about nothing else about the last two weeks in the media, which is good, because we speak about Formula 1.

“But then I already confirmed a couple of weeks ago. I think it was a clear answer, but nobody really took it seriously. So we are quite happy with our technical team and we continue with them.”

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