Newey moving to Red Bull
Top Formula One designer Adrian Newey is leaving McLaren to become Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer. The Austrian-owned team confirmed on Tuesday that Newey will take up his new position at the end of February 2006.
Newey is widely regarded as one of the sport’s finest aerodynamicists. After achieving championship success with Williams, he joined McLaren in 1997 and helped bring them the constructors’ title in 1998. His design team was also behind this year’s fastest car, the MP4-20.
Newey was the subject of controversy back in 2001 when he accepted an offer to join Jaguar, the team that ultimately became Red Bull, before deciding to stay on with McLaren after the move had been announced.
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McLaren cool on Newey departure
The announcement of Adrian Newey’s imminent move to Red Bull has come as no surprise to McLaren, who have been preparing for his exit for quite some time.
“The pressures of working for a front running Formula One team are intense and we have been aware for quite some time that Adrian was looking for a new challenge with a smaller team,” said the team in a statement. “The decision to leave McLaren was both amicable and mutual and we wish him all the best in the future.
“For the past two years Adrian has been fully involved in the restructuring of McLaren's technical team in preparation for his planned departure. This team has already worked successfully together on the MP4-20 and continues to be fully focused on the MP4-21.”
Newey, currently McLaren’s technical director, will take up his new post as Red Bull’s chief technical officer in February of next year.
