The F1 thread

Boromedic

I can imagine a scenario where RB have given him lots of leeway on contracts to keep him on in the past, which then would allow him to do as that statement says. I mean it's all hearsay of course, but I'm sure he's a very intelligent man in more aspects than car engineering and has very very clever legal advisors. Nice to see it linked to Horner being a cretin too.

euan

There has always been chat that Adrian Newey isn't actually an employee but is contracted through his business. There might be some wiggle room there.

Boromedic

euan said:

There has always been chat that Adrian Newey isn't actually an employee but is contracted through his business. There might be some wiggle room there.

That's a very good point actually, might that bite RB on the bottom?

TimmyO

Boromedic said:

euan said:

There has always been chat that Adrian Newey isn't actually an employee but is contracted through his business. There might be some wiggle room there.

That's a very good point actually, might that bite RB on the bottom?

The contract between them could still have non-compete stuff. 

The "Andretti not being an F1 team" thing is an interesting thought though. 

Cols

euan said:

There has always been chat that Adrian Newey isn't actually an employee but is contracted through his business. There might be some wiggle room there.

Technically, Newey is employed by Red Technology Limited rather than Red Bull Racing.  I believe the original reason for this was so that Red Bull and Toro Rosso could avail of the same design services from a ‘third party’.

In any case, he’s got a contract up to the end of 2025, apparently with a non-compete clause extending beyond the end of the contract.  He may have exit clauses, or might have grounds to argue Red Bull are in breach of contract for some reason (and therefore he would have freedom to be released).

But in the end (assuming he’s going to another team), it’ll probably come down to a spot of negotiation, a suitable period of gardening leave and Red Bull being paid off by the other team.

When Newey left Williams for McLaren in the 90s, he had grounds for getting out of his contract - it stated that he was to be consulted in all major decisions, specifically including driver selection.  He’d already been upset by Frank and Patrick signing Jacques Villeneuve without Newey’s knowledge for 1996, despite his test times being 2 seconds off Damon Hill’s benchmark time.

Then, mid-1996, with Hill romping to his World Championship, rumours began to circulate that he was to be dropped for 1997.  Newey asked Patrick Head, who airily said “Ah yes Adrian, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.  Frank and I signed Frentzen for 1997 at the beginning of the year because Damon drove so badly in 1995”.

Having been left out of the loop twice, Newey decided to go to McLaren.  He believed that he had a good case for doing so, but in the end Ron Dennis just paid Williams off and agreed 9 months of gardening leave.

Having designed what would go on to be Williams’ final championship-winning car for 1997, Newey left in November 1996, went home with a drawing board, some paper, pencils and a copy of the forthcoming technical regulations, and started to think about 1998…

The rest, as they say, is history.

Cols

Hulkenberg signed for Audi from next year.  Delighted to see this, he’s a great driver who has never really found himself in a top car.

Boromedic

Hulkenburg to join Sauber in 2025 then......

Interesting, I think the dominos are starting to fall...

stickyfiddle

Excellent news! He's acquitted himself extremely well since joining Haas. 

stickyfiddle

F1 Insider convinced it's Ferrari for Newey

https://f1-insider.com/formel-1-newey-kuendigt-red-bull-zu-ferrari-63035/

The lunatics on F1 Technical are convinced it's to hook up with Alonso and reunite with Honda again

https://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31498&start=1920 ;

euan

It’s amazing that according to the “Red Bull insiders” that Newey has had minimal input to their success. Yet he is so monumental that his gardening leave and non compete is well over two years. 

TimmyO

euan said:

It’s amazing that according to the “Red Bull insiders” that Newey has had minimal input to their success. Yet he is so monumental that his gardening leave and non compete is well over two years. 

no doubt the same insider that spent too much of his time trying to get inside er 

fretmeister

euan said:

It’s amazing that according to the “Red Bull insiders” that Newey has had minimal input to their success. Yet he is so monumental that his gardening leave and non compete is well over two years. 

Yeah - and the other bloke Horner is mentioning is really fighting off the £10m offers he gets every day.

sinbaadi

Pretty amazing really that he is still so much in demand.  The cars are totally different animals compared with 30 odd years ago, and even so essentially no other lead designer has anywhere near the same reputation or status. 

ThorpyFX

sinbaadi said:

Pretty amazing really that he is still so much in demand.  The cars are totally different animals compared with 30 odd years ago, and even so essentially no other lead designer has anywhere near the same reputation or status. 

Here’s the thing, he’s failed more than any other designer in F1, the likelihood is that for every “good idea” that gets suggested, he’s either seen it, tried it, or made it work. 

It’s this wealth of experience in both successes and failures that makes him worth so much. His experience can no doubt short circuit a route to success for a team or at least prevent them wasting a season trying something that was destined to fail. 

stickyfiddle

Christ, apparently the staff member that Horner was knobbing was also Newey's assistant. No wonder he wants out - that means the whole thing will have had a far more direct impact on his own day-to-day than just some annoyance

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mark-hughes-adrian-newey-red-bull-f1-exit-decision-purely-personal/

euan

He did commission a boat to sail around the world on last year. 

TimmyO

euan said:

He did commission a boat to sail around the world on last year. 

He’ll probably make a few design tweaks to it and be back by Thursday 

fretmeister

ThorpyFX said:

sinbaadi said:

Pretty amazing really that he is still so much in demand.  The cars are totally different animals compared with 30 odd years ago, and even so essentially no other lead designer has anywhere near the same reputation or status. 

Here’s the thing, he’s failed more than any other designer in F1, the likelihood is that for every “good idea” that gets suggested, he’s either seen it, tried it, or made it work. 

It’s this wealth of experience in both successes and failures that makes him worth so much. His experience can no doubt short circuit a route to success for a team or at least prevent them wasting a season trying something that was destined to fail. 

He’s also the only one who was in F1 the last time ground effects were allowed, and the only one who did his thesis on it.

It’s almost like someone designed the rules for him. [/TinFoilMode] 

goldtop

fretmeister said:

ThorpyFX said:

sinbaadi said:

Pretty amazing really that he is still so much in demand.  The cars are totally different animals compared with 30 odd years ago, and even so essentially no other lead designer has anywhere near the same reputation or status. 

Here’s the thing, he’s failed more than any other designer in F1, the likelihood is that for every “good idea” that gets suggested, he’s either seen it, tried it, or made it work. 

It’s this wealth of experience in both successes and failures that makes him worth so much. His experience can no doubt short circuit a route to success for a team or at least prevent them wasting a season trying something that was destined to fail. 

He’s also the only one who was in F1 the last time ground effects were allowed, and the only one who did his thesis on it.

It’s almost like someone designed the rules for him. [/TinFoilMode] 

Hmmm... imagine if some Italian team had mentioned to Hamilton that Newey would be joining the team in the near future...

Cols

stickyfiddle said:

Christ, apparently the staff member that Horner was knobbing was also Newey's assistant. No wonder he wants out - that means the whole thing will have had a far more direct impact on his own day-to-day than just some annoyance

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mark-hughes-adrian-newey-red-bull-f1-exit-decision-purely-personal/

Well, that’s put an entirely different complexion on it.  

Because now it’s not just a case of Horner harassing his own PA and someone with whom Newey might have had a passing familiarity - it’s Horner harassing Nicole, an intimate colleague of Adrian’s with whom he undoubtedly had a very close day-to-day relationship.  And now she’s suspended from her job.  It’s not just the nuisance of having to get a new PA - it is, as Mark Hughes said, personal.

What Newey liked about Red Bull in contrast to Ron Dennis-era McLaren was having a peaceful working environment and the freedom and authority to shape the technical side of the operation without political interference.

It’s certainly not peaceful anymore, and the rumours are that Newey felt he was being sidelined on the F1 technical side in favour of Pierre Wache and Enrico Balbo, and told by Horner to concentrate on the Red Bull hypercar project.

It’s reported that Newey is yet to tender his resignation and that Red Bull are attempting to renegotiate his contract to stave off a departure.  In the meantime, Newey’s wife Amanda has apparently been looking at houses in Italy.  I reckon it’s done.