Why Adrian Newey, F1’s greatest designer, is not done yet

In the days ahead of the 2024 Miami Grand Prix an announcement was made that sent shockwaves through Formula 1.

Adrian Newey was leaving Red Bull.

The stunning news, the second such story to rock the paddock since the staggering decision by Lewis Hamilton to leave Mercedes for Ferrari at the end of the 2024 campaign, kicked the F1 rumor mill into overdrive. As some of Red Bull’s former drivers praised the legendary designer in the hours ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, speculation began almost instantly regarding where he would land next.

Over the months since that announcement, speculation has followed Newey, linking the esteemed designer with almost every team on the grid. He was linked with Ferrari — potentially setting up a “dream team” with Hamilton and Charles Leclerc — as well as McLaren and Williams, two previous stops on his legendary resume.

Recent reports indicated that a deal may be done that will bring Newey to Aston Martin, perhaps with a massive four-year contract worth $100 million paving the way for that move. But perhaps lost in the entire discussion is the answer to this question: Why would Newey take another F1 job? After all, his resume is complete, and whenever he decides to step away from the sport his list of accomplishments will be longer than a lap at Spa-Francorchamps, one of the circuits where his legendary designs have dominated over the years. What is there left to prove?

It might come down to a blank sheet of paper, and a chance to solve the latest F1 set of riddles.

One of the more fascinating aspects of Newey’s impending move is the reporting that he will not face a “gardening” period after leaving Red Bull. In F1 when many key figures change teams, they often cannot start with their new team immediately and are required under the terms of their contract with their previous team to take a period of leave. These clauses, designed to prevent team members from sharing details learned with their former team with their new team, are often termed a “gardening” period, as the employee will have to find something else to do to occupy their time during that period.

However, in negotiating Newey’s release from his contract at Red Bull, representatives were able to avoid any such gardening period, meaning the legendary designer is free to begin working at a new team next year.

During a critical time in the sport.

Formula 1 constantly revises the rules and regulations for the sport, with some years offering bigger and bolder changes than others. The 2026 season offers perhaps some of the biggest changes in recent memory, as the sport’s governing body confirmed in June a bold departure from the current set of regulations ... which were instituted for the 2022 season.

A new set of regulations gives Newey the chance to stand in front of his legendary drawing board and, pencil in hand, begin work on solving a new riddle.

It is, in his own words, the part of the sport he loves best.

“I do enjoy regulation changes,” Newey is quoted as saying in The Formula. “Perhaps the part of my job I enjoy the most is figuring out what those regulations mean, what is their intention, and if a subtle difference allows [us to explore] new horizons.”

Throughout his legendary career, Newey has often solved those riddles well, doing so with pencil and paper along with his legendary notebook, rather than the computer-guided design programs that are all the rage these days.

Take the RB5, his design at Red Bull for the 2009 season. That year brought sweeping new regulations aimed at improving overtaking, which included changes to the bodywork, the tires, and the introduction of the “kinetic energy recovery system,” or KERS. That design powered Red Bull to a second-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship, their best result yet in the sport. Only a more creative design, the “double diffuser” used by Brawn GP on their BGP 001, prevented Red Bull from winning their first title.

But they accomplished that the following year with Newey’s RB6, which was essentially the RB5 with a double diffuser of its own. Newey believed that car generated the most downforce in the sport’s history. “The RB6 was probably the car with the most downforce in the history of F1, more even than the legendary spoiler cars of the 1980s,” said Newey years later. “We measured up to 5.5G of lateral acceleration. It could go flat out through Copse at Silverstone.”

Recently, 2022 brought another new set of regulations, including the return of “ground effect” cars, a design that had been eliminated in the 1980s. This was again introduced to improve close racing and overtaking and led to designs such as the ambitious “zero-pod” design Mercedes brought to the track with the W13. While that did not pan out, Newey’s RB18 design sure did. That car, driven by Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez, won 17 of 22 races and powered Red Bull to their first Constructors’ Championship since 2013. That year Red Bull won the last of four straight titles, a streak brought about by the RB6 kicking it off in 2010.

The incoming regulations in 2026 give Newey another chance to crack a new riddle and to “explore new horizons” in the sport.

Whether it is Aston Martin or another team, they will be lucky to have that on their side next year, ahead of that new set of regulations going into effect.