There has reportedly never been a better time to tempt Adrian Newey out of Red Bull.
“There is nothing he hates more than internal politics,” Auto Motor Und Sport report ahead of this weekend’s F1 Chinese Grand Prix.
The off-track controversy that continues to engulf Red Bull means that two rival F1 teams sense their best-ever opportunity to recruit the mastermind car designer.
Ferrari and Aston Martin have made Newey offers, the report states.
Mercedes reportedly have not due to concerns that a figure of Newey’s gravitas would cause “unrest internally”.
But Newey would not be available until 2026 anyway.
He is contracted to Red Bull until the end of 2025, by which point he will have delivered the RB17 road hypercar project.
Red Bull internal rumblings cause concern
The report out of Germany claims there are “two worlds” at Red Bull’s F1 team.
It described a “tug-of-war” over how the company, still reacting to the death in 2022 of its founder Dietrich Mateschitz is reorganised.
Horner is on one side, backed by the Thai majority shareholders.
He “sees himself as the general”, it is reported.
The Austria-based side of the company is the second “world” within Red Bull.
Helmut Marko, the 80-year-old advisor, is part of the Austrian side.
Star driver Max Verstappen has insisted that his own future depends on Marko staying.
Mercedes, who need a replacement for Lewis Hamilton in 2025, are watching the situation surrounding Verstappen and Marko to see if they can unexpectedly snatch the driver for themselves.
Verstappen and Newey are apparently concerned that the ongoing situation could shake the F1 team’s dominance.
Engineer Newey is regarded as F1’s best-ever car designer, and is the brains behind the dominant machines of last year and this season.