As speculation mounts, Red Bull claims that it is unaware that Adrian Newey is to leave the Austrian outfit for another team.

Earlier today, Germany's Auto Motor und Sport claimed that Newey is to leave the Austrian team, citing unease with the ongoing situation in relation to the accusations of inappropriate behaviour r levelled at Christian Horner.

Over the course of the day the likes of Sky, Motorsport.com and the BBC - citing its own trusted verification process of course - have run the story while insisting that sources have confirmed it to be true.

Newey is under contract to Red Bull until 2025 and whatever the rights and wrongs of the ongoing saga the team would no doubt fight tooth and nail not to let him go anywhere other than his garden.

Nonetheless, the media claims have led to intense speculation on social media where Newey has been linked to a 'dream team' partnership with Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, while Mercedes and Aston Martin have also been linked with the design guru.

All Red Bull is saying, other than repeating the fact that Newey is contracted to the team until "at least the end of 2025", is that it is "unaware of him joining any other team".

While some on social media are salivating at the prospect, claiming that his departure would mark "the beginning of the end for Red Bull", assuming he is held to his current contract, even if it means gardening leave, he would likely not make any impact on his chosen new team before 2027, a year into the new formula.

Then again, considering the power play going on behind the scenes, both within the F1 team and seemingly within Red Bull itself, the whole thing could be a means of further destabilising the situation and forcing a conclusion to the saga, and with Max Verstappen's future titles very much aligned with who designs his cars, this makes perfect sense.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by FIRSTINTO 1, 30/04/2024 2:05 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 30/04/2024 6:58)

"This comment was removed by an administrator as it was judged to have broken the site's posting rules and etiquette."

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2. Posted by kenji, 29/04/2024 20:47

"@RP Likewise. For many years I have also wondered what it is that makes Newey's designs so successful. Whatever it is, it's not in super abundance. Having spent countless hours in the Louvre and also the Rijksmuseum just highlights the same genius factor in other disciplines. but still a rare occurrence. The fact is that Mercedes dominated the F1 scene for many of the past seasons so there are others within the spectrum, just not at the same consistent level of excellence."

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3. Posted by ChickenFarmerF1, 29/04/2024 18:32

"@Laz - I was thinking more Turk Thrust than DTS..."

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4. Posted by RP, 29/04/2024 13:10 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 30/04/2024 6:58)

"Who knew that in the decades I have been following F1, we've reached a point where off track machinations may have captured more interest than the less than exciting on track show. It is still amazing to me that with all the professional engineers and aerodynamisists working in F1 for years, Newey's work is consistently the best and not by a tiny margin. Maybe AI can help them close the gap. Surely, it isn't individuals all suffering from the "not invented here" syndrome.
"

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5. Posted by Laz, 29/04/2024 2:42 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 30/04/2024 6:58)

"All this speculation has the hallmarks of "Drive to Survive - the printed version
When it is all over I hope the journalists who wrote the " my version is the the real version" over and over and got it horribly wrong become unemployed ; just had a guts full of all the Clickbait headlines from all the F1 sites peddling this gossip - and not one officially /publicly verified /valid source anywhere.
"

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6. Posted by FIRSTINTO 1, 26/04/2024 19:16

"My gut feeling agrees with Miss Cleo. He gets back into F1 after his gardening leave and joins Andretti in a well established organization with sky high ambitions and known world class champions.
He knows a winner when he sees one."

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7. Posted by meatball, 26/04/2024 15:11

"If he goes anywhere, assuming this isn't another red herring from Jos and Toto, it's to the south of France. In his spiffy new Sailboat. To enjoy retirement and the odd lucrative consulting gig that may come his way.
"

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8. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 26/04/2024 12:58

"Miss Cleo predicts he's headed to Andretti. Wants that care free American lifestyle and clean slate to design."

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9. Posted by Chester, 26/04/2024 11:40

"@SpinDoctor, more and more I am coming to love your logic. To me, its pure.

This is now the second day of no solid news about Newey's future. This is far from clear."

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10. Posted by Spindoctor, 26/04/2024 9:48

"This whole saga is both dispiriting & hilarious which is almost as paradoxical as the shenanigans currently seething away at RBR. From the outside it seems that Marko & Verstappen Pere, in cahoots with the Austrian part of Red Bull management, have some kind of beef with Horner & the hooha surrounding the claims of harassment have provided a perfect pretext for applying the boot.

Newey himself has been gnomic in his (lack of) response to the speculation & from the outside it's not obvious why he'd want to leave RBR, apart from a likely toxic working atmosphere. He could go anywhere he chooses, so this might actually be be a key factor....

Losing Newey might not put a major crimp on success through to 2026 - the car is substantially faster than anything else & Verstappen clearly sandbagging for at least some of most races - it might prove a disaster for the new 2026 aero-limited formula, though PU issues might also play a role.

If this all happens (far from certain!) he's previously said he wasn't keen of working in Italy for, I believe, family reasons of commuting etc. If this is the case, then Ferrari might well be disappointed. Maybe he'll fancy the challenge of taking Aston Martin from mid-field to leader of the pack?"

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11. Posted by Ricardo_sanchez, 26/04/2024 7:35

"@kenji - Where have I jumped to a conclusion? I simply asked you what motivations you believe there are for Jos Verstappen to want to keep the Horner saga on the boil. I thought you might have some insights that I have missed and I’m still interested to know the answer. "

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12. Posted by kenji, 25/04/2024 23:57

"@Ricardo-sanchez....you are jumping to conclusions. Firstly, Newey has not stated that he's leaving RB, ATPIT. Even if he is, how do you know that the contretemps with the stated employee are the sole reason? Verstappen is on the public record as stating that the team, under Horner's leadership 'will explode', a loosely defined call for Horner's removal. Yet depite not 'exploding', RB under Horner's continuing leadership, has gone on to win races consistently! Secondly, the apparent hoo har concerning the control of the team in it's entirety is, if anything, more likely to have spurred the possibility of a Newey defection, if in fact it actually happens. One of the most important issues for any team is the acquisition of the very best drivers but the fact that Horner has to rely on the input of someone who does not report to him for this function is, I believe, a flaw in the management chain. As team principal the final word should be his. To acknowledge that behind TP Horner's back a clause was secretly inserted into the Verstappen contract that allowed for the cessation of Verstappens contract should Marko cease his employment with the team. In such a closed environment as an F1 team this action is, IMO, reprehensible. As an aside, I currently view the employee complaint as a convenient trojan horse for the pursuit of bigger goals by certai parties. That's an opinion only and open to challenge at any time by anyone. I may well be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time...."

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13. Posted by Ricardo_sanchez, 25/04/2024 23:11

"@kenji - so what’s the motivation for Jos Verstappen to keep the Horner issue on the boil? If that saga is destabilising the team and has now led to Newey’s departure then surely it would be damaging his son’s prospects? "

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14. Posted by kenji, 25/04/2024 23:00

"@Ricardo-sanchez...you have misunderstood. A not unknown occurrence."

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15. Posted by Ricardo_sanchez, 25/04/2024 22:20

"@kenji - have I misunderstood, or are you suggesting that Jos Verstappen has an interest in helping other teams beat Red Bull? I can’t see what possible motivation the Verstappens would have in causing damage to the team that’s consistently supplying Max with title-winning cars. "

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Red Bull responds to Newey claims

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