Eddie Jordan hinted Adrian Newey could put his Formula 1 career on hold after his Red Bull exit.
Newey has been with Red Bull since 2006 but plans to leave in early 2025. His contract runs until the end of next year and has a 12-month non-compete clause, but an earlier exit has been successfully negotiated with the F1 champions.
Former F1 team owner Jordan played a significant role on those talks, it has emerged. Newey described the Irishman as his "close friend and manager" as it emerged that Jordan has been instrumental in the events of the past few days.
Ferrari are in pole position to recruit Newey, having failed several times in the past to convince him to move to Italy. But it may be a while before the 65-year-old commits to that switch this time.
Speaking on his Formula For Success podcast, Jordan hinted his client may decide to take some time before committing to a new project. He said: "Remember that he's been in Red Bull under constant pressure, so if he's gonna take time out and just cruise for a while, everyone would understand that.
Inside the driver call which upset Red Bull and changed the course of F1 history
"That's probably more likely to see rather diving into any other possible employment career. Things have slightly changed... He probably should and would look to the future about a change of life."
Ferrari are not the only ones interested in Newey. When, or if, he decides to join another F1 team, he is likely to also have interest from Aston Martin who tried in March to tempt him to join their project with a mega-money offer extended personally by billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll.
As for Red Bull, they have a ready-made replacement in technical director Pierre Wache who has, for a long time now, been in charge of their day-to-day car development anyway. But there can be no playing down how significant this development is for the F1 champions.
A key reason for Newey's decision to leave is the infighting behind the scenes with team principal Christian Horner facing internal attacks from colleagues who want him out. And Max Verstappen's father Jos, one of those against Horner, reacted to news of Newey's exit by declaring his concern for Red Bull's future.
He said: "The team is in danger of falling apart. I was afraid of that earlier this year. For internal peace, it is important that key people stay on board. That is not the case now. Newey is leaving and earlier this year it also looked like Helmut [Marko] would be sent away. For the future, that is not good."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
