Adrian Newey said the Miami race weekend became one of being “wheeled around for press” by Red Bull, when he was supposed to be there in a “strategy function”. 

Ahead of the 2024 Miami Grand Prix race weekend, the huge news broke that F1 design guru Adrian Newey was to leave the Red Bull team which he had been a part of since 2006, with a total of 13 titles won at that stage, Max Verstappen adding a 14th after securing a fourth straight Drivers’ title in 2024.

Adrian Newey reflects on ‘strange’ Miami Grand Prix

Newey’s association with Red Bull Racing ended at that point in Miami, with the rest of his Red Bull tenure spent working on their RB17 hypercar, Newey later agreeing a deal to join Aston Martin.

As of March 2, Newey will take on the newly-created ‘managing technical partner’ role, while owner Lawrence Stroll also gave him shares in the Aston Martin team as part of the deal.

However, as Newey opened up on that Miami GP race weekend where the shock news of his Red Bull exit was delivered, he explained how media work became his purpose, as he was frozen out of the strategy tasks that he was supposed to be a part of.

Speaking with his manager Eddie Jordan – who engineered the Red Bull exit and Aston Martin deal – in an Oyster Yachts interview, Newey said: “The Miami Grand Prix itself was strange because I was there in a strategy function, hence being on the pit wall, but I wasn’t involved in any of the engineering decisions, or in any of the engineering meetings.

“I was just being wheeled around for press, basically, so kind of not what gets me up.”

Newey may be one of, if not the greatest F1 designer of all-time, and a vital contributor to Red Bull’s glowing F1 CV, yet it took him by surprise just how much media coverage was generated by his Red Bull departure.

“But I never really thought it’d be big news, to be perfectly honest, never really thought about it,” he continued. “So for it to be in all the flipping papers and on the telly and stuff, was almost a bit of a shock.”

More on Adrian Newey to Aston Martin

???? Explained: Adrian Newey’s job title and how Aston Martin’s technical structure will look

???? Adrian Newey: All you need to know about his sensational Aston Martin move

Only in the process of Newey leaving Red Bull and joining Aston Martin did it become clear that former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan was his manager.

And the Irishman – speaking on the Formula For Success podcast which he appears on alongside former Red Bull driver David Coulthard – praised the team over how the talks played out.

After Coulthard asked him how he kept the Newey to Aston Martin deal quiet for as long as he did, Jordan replied: “I do a lot of talking. I’m Irish. Irish people do a lot of talking.

“But when there’s money involved and you need to keep your trap shut, you do. Invariably.

“It’s one of those things. Adrian was very united as well. I mean, we used to speak a lot with regards, ‘Don’t come near me. Don’t say anything. Don’t do this. Let’s just keep normal protocol going as we should’. He played a great game.

“I mean, the most difficult… If I was to be very honest, in my lifetime, David, haven’t said this to many people, but in my lifetime, I’ve done some really, really scary deals, deals that have come off, some that haven’t. But I really believe the negotiations I had with Red Bull were the finest and the best caliber.

“They were incredibly decent and proper people to deal with. They understood exactly the situation, why I was talking to them, and the position of Adrian, having been there 18 years, he was a huge servant to them. He’s won dozens and dozens and dozens of World Championships there, but it was probably one of the greatest deals I’ve ever done in my life, not financially, but mentally.

“I felt so great about how that’s structured.”

Newey is one of several high-profile Aston Martin recruits in recent times, the team also signing Andy Cowell – head of the Mercedes engine programme during their time dominating Formula 1 – as their new group CEO, while Enrico Cardile has joined from Ferrari as Aston Martin’s new chief technical officer.

Read next: Adrian Newey issues Aston Martin update after Red Bull ‘blocked my tools’