Adrian Newey’s revelation: key reason behind his “crazy” departure from Red Bull. Adrian Newey has revealed the reasons behind his decision to leave Red Bull.

As has been known for some time, Adrian Newey left Red Bull last season to join Lawrence Stroll’s Aston Martin. The British engineer will begin working with the Silverstone-based team starting March 1, with the goal of lifting them out of their recent struggles following a promising start to 2023.

Throughout his illustrious career, Adrian Newey has achieved great success with Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull. Now, he faces the challenge of elevating a team struggling on the sporting front, though certainly not financially. The goal is clear and has been set for some time: to take advantage of the regulatory changes in 2026 to compete at the very top.

Many in the paddock believed that Adrian Newey, now 66 years old, would end his career with Red Bull. However, the legendary British engineer felt compelled to leave the Austrian team, announcing his decision in early May of last year.

Once he made the decision to leave, he faced another major question: retire, work in another sport, or join a different Formula 1 team? In a recent interview with *Auto Motor und Sport*, Newey was asked why he chose to stay in Formula 1 rather than leave the sport.

Newey responded: “I think [this question, editor’s note] goes slightly back in time. If you had asked me twelve months ago whether I would leave Red Bull to start over, I would have said, ‘No, you’re crazy.’”

“But for various reasons, I felt that I wouldn’t be true to myself if I stayed at Red Bull. So, the first difficult decision was exactly that: whether to stay at Red Bull or not. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that, to be honest with myself, I couldn’t stay.”

“And then, after making that decision, the next question was: what to do now? My wife Mandy and I discussed various options. One was, of course, that I’m fortunate enough not to need to work for financial reasons.”

“I could have simply retired and spent time on a beach or done something completely different, like the America’s Cup, or perhaps worked for a road car manufacturer, or stayed in motorsport. And if I decided to stay in motorsport, it made sense to remain in Formula 1, provided someone wanted me.” – the legendary car designer concluded.

As we know, this final option was the path he chose. For some months, his name was also linked to Ferrari, but for various reasons, this historic partnership did not materialize. Instead, Newey stayed in England, signing with Aston Martin.