Top F1 driver Max Verstappen “would have preferred” Red Bull’s famous design expert Adrian Newey to stay with the team, but he played down any impact on his future with Red Bull. Newey, the Austrian team said, will depart in April next year after almost two decades with the dominant racing team.
Verstappen said Newey’s departure should not inspire unnecessary drama and would have no impact “for the moment” on his status at Red Bull. He also cautioned that no conclusions can be drawn at this time.
“I think people in the press are making up a lot of things at the moment because they don’t understand what the roles were like in the team,” Verstappen said. “I can’t deny that I would have preferred him to stay, simply because of who he is as a person, the knowledge of him and, of course, what he would potentially bring to another team if he wanted to join.”
“If someone really wants to leave, let them leave. That’s also what I wrote to him… If you think it’s the right decision for you and your family, you have to do it,” she added.
“But I also have a lot of confidence in the technical team we have apart from Adrian, who is very, very strong. They’ve basically shown it in recent years with how competitive the car is. From the outside, it looks very dramatic. But I think that if you know what is happening within the team, it is not as dramatic as it seems,” concluded the current Formula 1 champion.
Separately, ESPN reported that Red Bull and technical director Pierre Wache agreed to a five-year contract earlier this year.
