2024 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

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Either:

1. He is going to Ferrari and this is how they got Lewis.

2. He has seen plans for the new engine and knows 2026 will be a disaster no matter how good his car design is.

I think it seems more likely that the Horner-Newey relationship going cold has caused this.

There was that interview with Horner in February where he was playing down newey's influence and saying that he didn't do much on the rb19 and rb20. And that more credit should go to Balbo and Waché. While it may be true and the other technical heads of RB go unsung, it felt strange given how instrumental Newey has been for the team. It just felt like the knives were out.

In my opinion, Horner wanted to manoeuvre Newey out of power, just like he tried to do with Marko. Verstappen played the trump card when it came to Marko so Horner had to back down there.

Maybe he goes to Ferrari, but I don't think that's a foregone conclusion.

As for technical structure within RB, there is now scope to promote both Waché and Balbo to CTO/TD respectively both of whom Ferrari have desperately been trying to poach. Maybe this was the grand scheme for Horner.

It's shameful he's willing to damage the team so much to consolidate power.

[AR3-GP]

There was also the rumor last year that Horner wanted to drop Tsunoda at Alpha Tauri (which would have 100% strained the Honda relationship) but Marko made sure it happened.

Horner seems out of touch, massively so. He's also the architect of RBPT and you know how I feel about that...If they had waited a little bit longer, they could have renewed with Honda again.

[CHT]

AN is already 65 years old and to lead a design and technical team at RBR factory while required to attend 24 races around the year is really a grueling task for a man in his golden years.
And for AN to work his magic with any new team, he will need a completely clean sheet with a new technical regulation. So for any team hoping to take advantage of AN for 2026 cars its already too late.

So my guess is that AN is likely to retire from F1 at his peak and spend his remaining time of his life designing yacht or designing hyper cars instead. If he can join FIA to influence the design of future F1 cars that will be great too.

For a man in his position to resign to join rival team, he will have to be put on gardening leave with immediate effect, not hanging around for another year or 2.

So I don't think he is joining another F1 team after RBR.  

[rbirules]

Unbelievable really to see Red Bull imploding having fought tooth and nail to get back to the top.

It is interesting if Newey joins another team- as that ‘could’ suggest he isn’t confident in the PU, however perhaps he’s had his chapter here and he’s fed up of the BS egos. Perhaps he takes a break for a while before considering if there’s one more project he wants.

I felt at the time when Hamilton pulled the trigger and went to Ferrari that he’s been tipped off - whether it’s the Newey factor or the PU or simply the Red Romance factor only time will tell.

How far along will development be on 2025 cars now?

They can't have anything in WT/CFD until the beginning of 2025 iirc

That's for 2026 cars, the question was about 2025 cars which will be the final evolution of this regulation cycle.

[TeamKoolGreen]

Either:

1. He is going to Ferrari and this is how they got Lewis.

2. He has seen plans for the new engine and knows 2026 will be a disaster no matter how good his car design is.

I think it seems more likely that the Horner-Newey relationship going cold has caused this.

There was that interview with Horner in February where he was playing down newey's influence and saying that he didn't do much on the rb19 and rb20. And that more credit should go to Balbo and Waché. While it may be true and the other technical heads of RB go unsung, it felt strange given how instrumental Newey has been for the team. It just felt like the knives were out.

In my opinion, Horner wanted to manoeuvre Newey out of power, just like he tried to do with Marko. Verstappen played the trump card when it came to Marko so Horner had to back down there.

Maybe he goes to Ferrari, but I don't think that's a foregone conclusion.

As for technical structure within RB, there is now scope to promote both Waché and Balbo to CTO/TD respectively both of whom Ferrari have desperately been trying to poach. Maybe this was the grand scheme for Horner.

It's shameful he's willing to damage the team so much to consolidate power.

Horner built the whole team. He hired Newey. Obviously this has all been about ownership. Horners freedom to operate the team is why it is so successful.

Horner is trying to protect the team from working under the thumb of some clueless executive like an Austrian version of John Elkann. How many titles does Ferrari have in the last decade or 2 again ?

Red Bull would be toast with Mitzlaf taking Horners CEO role. The rest of F1 would run circles around him and they'd lose the Neweys and the Max's anyway. Long term , Red Bull is better off with Horner. He's not that old either. Unlike Newey or Marko.

[Zynerji]

Either:

1. He is going to Ferrari and this is how they got Lewis.

2. He has seen plans for the new engine and knows 2026 will be a disaster no matter how good his car design is.

I think it seems more likely that the Horner-Newey relationship going cold has caused this.

There was that interview with Horner in February where he was playing down newey's influence and saying that he didn't do much on the rb19 and rb20. And that more credit should go to Balbo and Waché. While it may be true and the other technical heads of RB go unsung, it felt strange given how instrumental Newey has been for the team. It just felt like the knives were out.

In my opinion, Horner wanted to manoeuvre Newey out of power, just like he tried to do with Marko. Verstappen played the trump card when it came to Marko so Horner had to back down there.

Maybe he goes to Ferrari, but I don't think that's a foregone conclusion.

As for technical structure within RB, there is now scope to promote both Waché and Balbo to CTO/TD respectively both of whom Ferrari have desperately been trying to poach. Maybe this was the grand scheme for Horner.

It's shameful he's willing to damage the team so much to consolidate power.

Horner built the whole team. He hired Newey. Obviously this has all been about ownership. Horners freedom to operate the team is why it is so successful.

Horner is trying to protect the team from working under the thumb of some clueless executive like an Austrian version of John Elkann. How many titles does Ferrari have in the last decade or 2 again ?

Red Bull would be toast with Mitzlaf taking Horners CEO role. The rest of F1 would run circles around him and they'd lose the Neweys and the Max's anyway. Long term , Red Bull is better off with Horner. He's not that old either. Unlike Newey or Marko.

I kinda agree with this. AI design is coming quickly. Newey may not be that much of a differentiator come 2028+.

[Dunlay]

@mods, I think there should be another thread for "Newey Leaving Red Bull: My Speculations". It would keep the team thread more factual.

[Chuckjr]

I think Newey is going to retire.

[CHT]

Unbelievable really to see Red Bull imploding having fought tooth and nail to get back to the top.

It is interesting if Newey joins another team- as that ‘could’ suggest he isn’t confident in the PU, however perhaps he’s had his chapter here and he’s fed up of the BS egos. Perhaps he takes a break for a while before considering if there’s one more project he wants.

I felt at the time when Hamilton pulled the trigger and went to Ferrari that he’s been tipped off - whether it’s the Newey factor or the PU or simply the Red Romance factor only time will tell.

How far along will development be on 2025 cars now?

They can't have anything in WT/CFD until the beginning of 2025 iirc

That's for 2026 cars, the question was about 2025 cars which will be the final evolution of this regulation cycle.

RBR may already have 2025 concept in placed, just waiting for the right time to introduce them.
F1 is not a one man show, the people who have worked with AN over the past 15 to 20 years should be good enough to take over when AN retire. Perhaps Mike Elliotts may join RBR?

[Bill]

Interesting news today. Adrian Newey is of course very valuable, but I don't think this news is actually the turning point for Red Bull. There's a turning point, but it started long before horner-gate, and long before any power struggle between Horner and Marko. It started when they decided to build their own power unit.

Red Bull will likely continue to be competitive through 2025 even without Newy. With ever smaller performance margins in 2025, Verstappen himself will make enough difference. Even at equal odds to Ferrari, the Leclerc-Hamilton infighting will benefit Verstappen in the championship.

From 2026 onwards, I have long believed that Red Bull's power unit would be their downfall. It wouldn't matter whether Newey was with the team or not. They cannot win championships with a bad PU as we saw in the past.

Of course, if Red Bull actually manage to build a competitive power unit for 2026, then Newey's absence may be decisive and one could begin to lament it, but since I never believed that they would, I don't see his departure being the decisive element. There's enough momentum to still win in 2025, but they were always going to fall because of their PU not Newey.

For those teams likely to have a competitive PU in 2026 (Honda, Merc, Ferrari), acquiring Newey's services may prove to be decisive.

There's literally zero evidence or anything that Red Bulls power unit will be bad. The building is full of Mercedes and Honda engineers. Horner bringing up the low power issues a year ago turned out to be vindicated by F1's own tests. If anything , it shows that Red Bull is the furthest ahead.

The whole narrative is based around fizzy drinks company can't build engines. That was the same nonsense we heard about the chassis.

they are no Honda engineers at redbull .the honda engineers are in japan and dont even speak english.they are just few contingent of people who were doing set up and pu mapping and some work related to batteries.

[Wouter]

Red Bull Racing cannot yet confirm the departure of Adrian Newey, but several sources report that the designer will resign.
The question is how quickly he can start playing elsewhere. His influence on Red Bull's current success is marginal according to insiders.

.
https://www.telegraaf.nl/sport/77468747 ... g-verlaten



The 'quiet and peaceful environment' that Max Verstappen wants is still certainly not the case at Red Bull. Even the most fanatical denier cannot ignore this, now that Adrian Newey has shared his wish to leave with important people within the team.



Dutch article: >>> https://archive.is/FyRop

Adrian Newey's departure wish proves that the power struggle within Red Bull is still in full swing

By Erik van Haren

Even the most fanatical denier, who thinks that all is well again within Red Bull and Formula 1 team Red Bull Racing, must now change tack. The departure wish of legendary top designer Adrian Newey shows that the tranquility radiated in recent weeks was only for the stage.
Everyone involved saw it coming that another bomb would burst. After six hectic and chaotic weeks in February and the first part of March, there was armed peace between feuding parties from the third race weekend in Australia. But it was known to all parties that things were not going well internally and that top designer Newey and team boss Christian Horner, who had been a unit for years, were no longer the best of friends.
According to insiders, the internal power struggle is the main reason for Newey (65) to now state that he does not want to complete his contract with Red Bull that runs until 2025.

[Just_a_fan]

Red Bull Racing cannot yet confirm the departure of Adrian Newey, but several sources report that the designer will resign.
The question is how quickly he can start playing elsewhere. His influence on Red Bull's current success is marginal according to insiders.

.
https://www.telegraaf.nl/sport/77468747 ... g-verlaten

So Red Bull insiders are saying Newey isn't important to their success? No reason to stop him going elsewhere in that case.

Or is someone saying things about him because they're angry he's leaving?

[Seanspeed]

Incoming:

Christian Horner says Adrian Newey was mere 'coffee boy', barely knew him.

[Wouter]

So Red Bull insiders are saying Newey isn't important to their success? No reason to stop him going elsewhere in that case.

Or is someone saying things about him because they're angry he's leaving?

.
No, Horner said it few months ago.

[Vanja #66]

Incoming:

Christian Horner says Adrian Newey was mere 'coffee boy', barely knew him.

Coffee boy? Newey was clearly just a janitor!