"I’m not surprised": Max Verstappen on Adrian Newey leaving Red Bull for Aston Martin in 2025 F1 season

Max Verstappen has commented on Adrian Newey’s move to Aston Martin, following Newey’s announcement of his departure from Red Bull earlier this season. Verstappen stated that he "saw it coming" and believes the transition will be a challenge for both the team and Newey.

Newey has been an integral part of Red Bull for almost two decades. His innovative designs propelled the team to two eras of dominance on the grid. However, earlier this season, it was announced that Newey would be leaving Red Bull in 2025.

After months of speculation linking him to Ferrari and Williams, Newey officially signed a deal to join Aston Martin for the 2025 Formula One season.

Reacting to the 65-year-old joining the Silverstone-based team, Verstappen said he was happy for him but also mentioned that he had anticipated the move.

"I’m not surprised, because I knew it was coming," F1 quoted him as saying. From my side it’s very difficult to know how the team is operating and stuff… I’m happy for Adrian, I quickly spoke to him, but it’s just different challenges, right? When you’ve been with the team for a long time, I can also see that maybe for him, [it’s] a new challenge."

"For sure, I know that Lawrence [Stroll] is pushing flat out to make it a success and of course I hope for them that it can be a success," he added.

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Max Verstappen addresses Red Bull has faced in the current F1 season

The Milton Keynes outfit had achieved remarkable dominance in the previous two seasons and carried this momentum into the beginning of the current season. However, it became evident that their development pace was not keeping up with that of their rivals, McLaren and Ferrari.

McLaren developed the fastest car of the season, meanwhile the Scuderia has also been consistently competitive. Surprisingly, Mercedes, despite their initial struggles, has managed to secure victories.

Amidst the challenges faced by the RB20, Max Verstappen addressed the issues, stating,

"From our side, we’ve had some issues with the car and now we’re just trying to fix that. It’s not like from one to the other weekend it suddenly is all done. Especially with the budget cap as well, it’s not that easy to turn the car around. We have to be a bit patient."

Although Red Bull is still leading the Constructors' World Championship, there is only an eight-point gap between them and second-placed McLaren. Ferrari sits in third place, 39 points behind the leaders.