Formula 1's legendary designer Adrian Newey has opened up on his shock Red Bull exit last year, revealing that he wouldn't be honest to himself if he continued

The legendary designer has no regrets after leaving Red Bull – and reckons the team's engineers underestimated the RB20's issues

Adrian Newey believes a lack of experience set Red Bull back during the 2024 season, as the team struggled to keep up with rivals McLaren and Ferrari.

The legendary engineer, who left Red Bull last year amid the team's internal struggles, says he noticed fundamental handling problems that made the car increasingly difficult to drive. "Obviously part of it was McLaren in particular and Ferrari as well developing their cars and doing a very good job of it," Newey told Auto Motor und Sport.

Legendary Formula 1 car designer Adrian Newey will start his new role with Aston Martin in March having walked away from Red Bull last year in a decision which rocked the sport

Listening to Red Bull Racing's leadership during the second part of last season, it was a coincidence that Adrian Newey' s farewell almost coincided with the start of the decline in sporting performance.

Adrian Newey will officially begin work as chief technical officer and Aston Martin's Formula 1 team principal next month.

It’s something I was starting to become concerned about but not many other people in the organisation seemed to be very concerned about it.”

Adrian Newey says problems he spotted with Red Bull’s 2024 car were not swiftly addressed by team management. Amid the power struggle and internal

Former Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey believes “inexperience” may have played a part in the RB20’s troubled development path last year. After a dominant start to the F1 2024 season, the development of the RB20 saw the reigning World Champions struggle to compete for victories through the middle phase of the season as other teams came on strong.

Aston Martin’s successful acquisition of Adrian Newey was one of many blockbuster signings from last season. The Silverstone team will hope that Newey’s impact in 2026 can push them to the very front.