McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown says Adrian Newey’s departure from Red Bull comes as no surprise “given everything that’s gone on since the start of the year.”
“Six months ago, I would have been surprised,” said Brown when asked about Newey’s decision to leave the team, which was announced earlier this week.
“I think given everything that’s gone on since the start of the year and knowing Adrian pretty well, and he’s a very high-integrity individual, I’m not surprised he’s moving on.”
Red Bull have been the focus of speculation since before the season began, after allegations were made by a staff member regarding team principal Christian Horner. An internal investigation dismissed the claims, but the staff member has brought an appeal against the decision, while being suspended by the team.
While Newey said he chose to leave the team in order to pursue a new challenge, Brown believes the situation at Red Bull was also a factor, and expects others will follow.
“The stuff that’s going on there is a bit destabilising,” said Brown in yesterday’s FIA press conference. “It’s probably the first domino to fall.”
“We’ve seen an increase in CVs coming our way from the team,” Brown added. “I think Adrian is the most successful designer of all time. So in addition to the technical that he brings to the racing team, people want to work for people like Adrian Newey and work alongside him.
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“So I think they will be missing what he brings to the team from a pure technical point of view. And then I think the leadership and the excitement people get from working with him will be missed.”
Newey joined Red Bull from McLaren in 2006, a decade before Brown took charge at the team, but he downplayed the possibility of trying to bring the designer back to Woking.
“As far as McLaren’s concerned, I’m very happy with all the work the men and women at McLaren are doing. I think we’ve started to show since last year, second half of last year, that they know how to put performance on the car.
“So I’ve got all the faith in the world with the team that we have. We’re on a quest to get back to the front, and I think we have the people, the talent, the equipment, the drivers to get there, so we’re going to just stay the course.”
James Vowles, who like Brown runs a team Newey once worked for under different management,…
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