McLaren boss Zak Brown feels Adrian Newey just the 'first domino to fall' in Red Bull

McLaren team boss Zak Brown reckons Adrian Newey's exit from Red Bull would have a domino effect. He added that other key members could also leave the Austrian team.

Since Christian Horner was accused of inappropriate behavior by a female employee in February, the defending world champions have been engulfed by rumors and controversies. Even after the investigation cleared Horner of any accusations, the situation continued.

It sparked loads of reports claiming that key members like Adrian Newey, Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko could leave Red Bull. Fast forward to May, and the team announced that Newey will leave after the first quarter of 2025.

In the FIA press conference during the 2024 F1 Miami GP, Brown said that he would have been surprised to see Newey leave Red Bull six months ago. He said that he's no longer surprised because of the situation at the Milton Keynes-based team.

He also hinted that many other team members, along with the aero wizard, could leave the defending world champion, calling it a 'domino effect'.

"Am I surprised? Six months ago, I would have been surprised. I think given everything that's gone on since the start of the year and knowing Adrian pretty well, and he's a very high-integrity individual, I'm not surprised he's moving on.

"The stuff that's going on there is a bit destabilising. It's probably the first domino to fall," Brown said.

When asked to expand on his statement hinting at other Red Bull personnel leaving the team, Zak Brown confirmed that McLaren saw a rise in cover letters sent to them from the Austrian team.

"Yeah, we've seen an increase in CVs coming our way from the team."

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Red Bull downplays Zak Brown's comments on more members potentially leaving following Adrian Newey's exit

Red Bull has refuted Zak Brown's statement about McLaren receiving more cover letters from the Austrian team, especially after the team announced Adrian Newey's exit.

In the press conference during the 2024 F1 Miami GP, Zak Brown claimed that Adrian Newey's exit from Red Bull could result in many other key members leaving as well.

As quoted by BBC, though, a Red Bull spokesperson claimed that all their technical heads have long-term contracts with the team. They are unsure what Brown meant when he talked about cover letters and the domino effect.

“In the past few months, all our technical leadership team have signed long-term contracts committing to Red Bull Racing.

"So we’re not sure what CVs Zak is referring to, but we don’t foresee any significant loss and certainly not the domino effect Zak is hoping for,” the spokesperson said.

The report from BBC mentioned the team members referred in the statement were technical director Pierre Wache, head of performance engineering, Ben Waterhouse, head of aerodynamics Enrico Balbo, head of trackside engineering Paul Monaghan and Max Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

As of now, the defending world champions have only confirmed Adrian Newey's exit.