Adrian Newey's manager hints internal disagreements at Red Bull could have triggered the ace engineer's exit from the team

Former Red Bull CTO Adrian Newey's manager and former F1 team principal Eddie Jordan hinted that there might have been some internal disagreements with the Austrian team that could have led to the aero wizard's exit. The 65-year-old enjoyed a fruitful 19-year tenure with the Milton Keynes outfit as he propelled them to seven drivers and six constructors championships during his stay.

Under his designed cars, Red Bull experienced two separate dominant periods in the early 2010s and under the current regulations in 2022, however, his exit from the team in early May 2024 caught everyone by surprise.

Several teams were in contention to sign Newey but it was Aston Martin who ultimately managed to get him on board. While appearing on the Formula for Success podcast, Jordan hinted at some of the reasons behind Adrian Newey's exit from Red Bull and said (via PlanetF1):

“Who’s to know? Maybe he (Newey) saw something a couple of months, a year ago, that was either upsetting him or some road of technical belief as to where the team should go that he didn’t agree with, which certainly hasn’t come out now," Eddie Jordan said.

“But when you see what’s happening with Max [Verstappen], who’s to say that there was something happening in the car, in the team, that Adrian wasn’t happy with? I don’t know the answer,” he added.

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Red Bull team boss gives his take on Adrian Newey joining Aston Martin

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said that he wasn't surprised by Adrian Newey joining Aston Martin, claiming that his move to the British team was becoming clearer as the months passed by.

Speaking with F1.com, the Brit said:

“Well, it wasn’t a great surprise. I think it was becoming clearer and clearer that was the route that he was going to go rather than into retirement or any other team. Obviously, it’ll be a new challenge for him," Horner said.

However, Horner seemed to take a dig at the Silverstone-based outfit regarding the timing of the announcement as he pointed out that the iconic aerodynamicist was still working with Red Bull, adding:

"It’s obviously a massive announcement for Aston – perhaps slightly premature considering he’s still contracted to Red Bull until the early part of next year. I can understand that they’re excited about Adrian joining their team, but in the mean time he’s still got an RB17 to finish. That’s going really well and making good progress,” he added.

The RB17 was unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed earlier this year and would be out in the market next year with only 50 units being produced. It is also reported that Adrian Newey will join Aston Martin on March 3, 2025, after completing the work on RB17 and serving out his gardening leave with Red Bull.