Red Bull’s Adrian Newey.
Red Bull announced Adrian Newey’s departure on 1 May 2024, on the 30th anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s death behind the wheel of a Newey-designed Williams F1 car.
The Briton expressed his disappointment, referring to it as “very unfortunate,” while Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz described the design guru’s feelings as “disappointed” regarding Red Bull’s timing.
‘It’s a very difficult and unfortunate day for that press release to come out’
Red Bull announced in the build-up to the Miami Grand Prix that this season would be Newey’s last full campaign with the Milton Keynes squad and he will depart early next year.
The press release was released on May 1st.
The day of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola will forever be remembered as one of the darkest moments in Formula 1’s history. It was on this tragic day that Senna tragically lost his life, as his Newey-designed Williams FW16 car crashed.
According to Newey, it was “very unfortunate” that Red Bull announced his exit on the anniversary of that day.
During a recent Q&A session at Oyster Yachts, he mentioned that the news was revealed to the press on an incredibly unfortunate day. He explained that it fell on the 1st of May, which marked the 30th anniversary of the tragic events of Imola.
“It’s an extremely challenging and regrettable day for that press release to be released.”
Kravitz believes that the 65-year-old individual was not pleased with the untimely announcement made by his team.
Kravitz noted in his Notebook that Adrian Newey expressed disappointment over Red Bull’s decision to release a statement about his departure on May 1st, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s passing in a car designed by Newey.
According to Kravitz, there was more than one thing that seemed to upset Newey during his conversation with Eddie Jordan on the yacht.
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Red Bull retaliated against the ban on attending all technical meetings during the Miami Grand Prix by clarifying that it solely applied to discussions pertaining to upcoming Red Bull designs.
Red Bull’s technical director, Pierre Waché, expressed that currently, every departing individual, including him, possesses the potential to join a rival team.
“It doesn’t matter about your name, there is a risk to pick up some IP on the current car – and the future car even more.”
Kravitz expressed his opinion on the ongoing discussion, suggesting that Wache’s remarks indicate a lack of belief in Newey’s retirement from Formula 1.
According to the Sky F1 pit lane reporter, he claims that he has been excluded and brought to Miami for a strategic position only. He states in an interview that he was not involved in any technical meetings for Red Bull in Miami.
I inquired with Pierre Wache regarding this matter, to which Pierre promptly responded, “No, that is incorrect. What exactly do you mean?” I proceeded to elucidate Adrian’s statement.
“And he responded, ‘Actually, he is referring to future meetings where we will be discussing intellectual property related to Red Bull Racing. If Adrian were to join a competitor, he might be able to take some of that information with him.'”
Wache expresses doubt regarding Newey’s retirement, unlike certain individuals within Red Bull Racing. Wache believes that Newey is likely to join a rival team, but the specific team, be it Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, Mercedes, or another, remains uncertain.
“That’s precisely why Newey, like anyone leaving the team, including Wache, would be prohibited from participating in meetings that involve discussions about future intellectual property. The intention is to prevent any departing member, as Wache puts it, from taking valuable information from Red Bull to another team.”
“It appears to be some kind of… perhaps it’s simply… well, Adrian mentioned that he was excluded from all the meetings, while Wache clarified that he was only excluded from meetings specifically discussing Red Bull Racing’s future intellectual property.”
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