Newey can wear red next year, says Helmut Marko
Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has provided hints at Adrian Newey’s future team, believing that the British engineer could join Ferrari after leaving the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
F1 star designer Adrian Newey announced his shock departure from Red Bull last Tuesday. The British engineer stays at Milton Keynes until the first quarter of 2025, but he will slowly scale down his involvement in the team's F1 project, and will relocate his focus on Red Bull's hypercar project instead.
Unsurprisingly, it has since emerged that several outfits are interested in the services of Newey. While Aston Martin had been a hot candidate even before Newey announced his departure from Red Bull, the Silverstone-based team's boss Mike Krack indicated that Newey will not join his outfit.
Since then, Ferrari has been mentioned as Newey's potential workplace, but Williams confirmed at last weekend's Miami Grand Prix that they have held talks with the British engineer too.
Speaking of Newey’s potential future team, Marko did not want to name Ferrari as Red Bull’s star designer’s new workplace, but he hinted that the Briton might wear rear as of 2025.
“I was obviously misunderstood. I would rather choose red,” Marko was quoted as saying by oe24.at.
Wow, wow, wow 🤩 Max's Pole streak continues... 🔥#F1 || #MiamiGP 🇺🇸pic.twitter.com/xu0hWGBVvG
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) May 5, 2024
While reigning world champion Max Verstappen stressed that Red Bull has a clear plan to fill the void left by Newey in the future, his team-mate Sergio Perez conceded that the star designer will be greatly missed, and the British engineer will have "an immediate impact" on any Formula 1 team he may switch to after he leaves Red Bull.
Marko did not hesitate to concede that Red Bull will miss Adrian Newey’s input, but he is hopeful that the Anglo-Austrian outfit will be able to maintain its competitive level given its technical department.
“Newey is a legend. He is the best F1 designer and he was at his best when there were changes to the regulations because he always knows how to best exploit the new interpretations. And with Newey you have a figurehead. With him on board, you ca get young engineers much easier because it was an honour for them to work with him.
“On the other hand, our technical team is very rich with a mix of experienced people like Pierre Waché and younger people. When there were problems, Newey was often the first to come up with a solution.
“The myth goes with Newey, but I don't think we will have a technical collapse because of it," added Marko.
