“It obviously hurts" - 15x race winner on Adrian Newey's departure from Red Bull

Former F1 world champion Jenson Button admits Adrian Newey's departure from Red Bull will hurt the team. The ace designer was part of the team for 19 years before he gave his resignation a few days back. The kind of success that Newey achieved in F1 has made him the most sought-after free agent in the sport.

He has been part of the team since 2006 and has spearheaded some of the best cars ever made in the history of the sport. At Red Bull, he was one of the building blocks on which the entire team was built and was given due leverage from Christian Horner with whom he was able to put together a very strong partnership.

So much so that Red Bull scripted the most dominant season in F1 history in 2023, where it lost only one race. Talking to Sky Sports, Jenson Button admitted that Adrian Newey's departure will certainly hurt the team. He said:

“It obviously hurts Red Bull and it hurts probably the atmosphere in the team little bit as well knowing that the major guy in the team that develops this wonderful car that they have year on year is not happy and wanting to leave.” [8:18]

There was, however, the other side of it where Button felt that Adrian Newey leaving Red Bull was good for F1 as it allowed another team to work with him and possibly succeed. He added:

"For the sport, it's probably a good thing if we saw him somewhere else. It would give another team an opportunity.” [7:50]

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Adrian Newey's record at Red Bull

Newey was part of the team from 2006 onwards. He will continue to be a part of the technology group but will cease any work on the F1 side. Until the first quarter of 2025, Newey will be working on the RB17 hypercar and taking that project to its completion.

During his stint with Red Bull, the ace designer achieved unprecedented success. It started with a 4-year championship run from 2010 to 2013. It was followed by a lean period where the team sorted out its power unit situation. When that was sorted, Newey was once again part of the team when Max Verstappen won the title in 2021.

Since the new ground effect regulations came into effect, Red Bull has been on another level thanks to Adrian Newey's previous experience in ground effect. It will be interesting to see what he does next and how the team evolves as he leaves the squad after almost two decades.