Max Verstappen has been at Red Bull since 2016 and throughout his time, Adrian Newey has been a constant presence. That is set to change now, as the 65-year-old’s departure from the team was announced earlier this month. Although sad to see him go, Verstappen doesn’t want to come in between any decision Newey made concerning his time at Red Bull.
In a conversation with Sky Sports at the Miami GP weekend, Verstappen admitted that stopping someone who already made their minds up isn’t possible. Upon learning about Newey’s exit, Verstappen revealed that he asked him to do what he feels is best for himself and his family.
Losing a genius figure like Adrian Newey is expected to be a huge blow for the Milton-Keynes-based outfit. However, Verstappen is adamant that their technical department has enough depth for them to continue with their dominance. With Pierre Wache and Enrico Balbo in charge of Red Bull’s design team, the future remains bright (for now).
In public, Verstappen remains unfazed about Newey leaving Red Bull. However, strong rumors have linked him away from the Austrian stable.
The 26-year-old is also unhappy with the turmoil internally. Per reports, Newey left because of the same reasons. This is why Verstappen could choose to reevaluate his options once the current campaign ends.
Max Verstappen could leave a broken Red Bull at the end of 2025
Following the onset of the Christian Horner saga, the peace at Milton Keynes disappeared completely. There was a power struggle between the bosses of the team, with the likes of Oliver Mintzlaff (Managing Director), the Thai owners, and Helmut Marko all involved.
Verstappen’s entourage reportedly sided against Horner, leading to unrest between the key figures. Newey never took a side publicly, but was believed to be unhappy with how Red Bull handled the situation.
With cracks beginning to appear, Verstappen could choose to leave a ‘broken’ Red Bull in the near future, before it is too late.
Verstappen’s father Jos too, felt that the team is close to being shattered because of internal conflict. For this, he directly blamed Team Principal Horner.
Although this instability could prompt a shock decision on Verstappen’s part, the fact that Red Bull is the fastest team on the grid cannot be discounted. There is no one close to them at the moment. And it could tie Verstappen’s hands with respect to considering a move away.