Adrian Newey Squashes Exit Rumours With Red Bull Contract Extension

Adrian Newey has extended his contract with Red Bull as Chief Technical Officer.

Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey has extended his contract with the Austrian team.

There has been a huge amount of speculation recently over the master aerodynamicist's future with the team as his contract was due to expire at the end of the season. However, according to a report from Autosport.com, Newey has now extended his contract with the team.

Adrian Newey has been confirmed to be continuing his contract with Red Bull. It's yet to be formally announced, but according to @autosport , a contract extension has been agreed upon. #f1 #redbull #f1twt #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/zge3D12B3W

— Alex Harrington (@AlexOnRacing) May 1, 2023

Whilst we await for official confirmation, it seems set in stone that the mastermind behind the RB18 and 19 will be staying with the team for multiple years. During an interview with Autosport, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner explained:

“Adrian [Newey] has been such a fundamental part since almost the beginning.

“He covers a lot of a lot of areas and, to have the depth of his experience and knowledge to draw upon, and the way he works with the young guys, it's great.

“He's just as motivated as he always been. Obviously, he has a great interest in what's going on in Powertrains, and Red Bull Advanced Technology as well. So, he covers the three pillars of the campus in Milton Keynes.”

The team chief went on to explain that the combination of Newey along with F1 technical director Pierre Wache and Ben Hodgkinson, the powertrains chief, has massively helped in the Austrian teams dominance. He continued:

“I think Pierre on the chassis side does a great job. We have got Ben Hodgkinson on Powertrains doing a fantastic job and Rob Gray on the Advanced Technology side.

“It's a people business, and that enables him [Newey] to apply his expertise. He doesn't have to be there every single day on one particular topic. We're able to use the breadth of his experience across the group.

“Adrian is a very competent engineer regarding all things to do with combustion.

“You can see that he's fully bought into the concept [of Red Bull powertrains] and sees the potential that it really brings longer term.”

It is no surprise that the team were keen to keep a hold of Newey. This will further boost Red Bull's dominance during the ground effect era and give the team confidence with the new 2026 regulations. Newey's involvement with Red Bull Powertrains will also have a huge impact on the teams performance going forward from 2026. 

It is hard to see how the other teams will compete against the ground effect mastermind. Mercedes has made a shuffle around within the team to bring James Allison back into the technical director role in an effort to make a comeback to a competitive state against Red Bull.