Red Bull’s technical head Adrian Newey, one of Formula 1’s most successful designers of all time, has signed a contract extension with the reigning world champions, motorsport.com reported on Monday.
A team spokesman said contracts were not publicly discussed but indicated Newey, 64, “won’t be going anywhere for some time”.
The Briton has designed title-winning cars for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull in more than 40 years in the sport and was reportedly in the final year of his contract as Red Bull’s chief technical officer.
Red Bull boss, Christian Horner said of Newey: “Adrian 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.”
Newey, in his Chief Technical Officer, role will work alongside Red Bull’s F1 Technical Director Pierre Wache and Red Bull powertrains head Ben Hodgkinson.
Newey applying his expertise in a people business environment
Horner commented on the setup: “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,” he explained.
Horner revealed Newey is excited about the prospect of Red Bull manufacturing their own power unit; he said: “Adrian is a very competent engineer regarding all things to do with combustion.
“You can see that he’s fully bought into the concept and sees the potential that it really brings longer term,” he concluded.
Newey joined Red Bull from McLaren in 2006, with the team winning four drivers’ and constructors’ titles in a row from 2010-2013 with Sebastian Vettel.
They won both titles last year, with Dutch driver Max Verstappen now chasing his third championship in a row. Red Bull have won all four races so far this season, three of them one-two. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Additional reporting by GrandPrix247)