Christian Horner 'wants to push Red Bull chief out of F1' but Lewis Hamilton could reap rewards

Christian Horner 'wants to push Red Bull chief out of F1' but Lewis Hamilton could reap rewards

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Lewis Winter

By Lewis Winter


Published: 13/03/2024

- 14:02

Reports claim Adrian Newey is unhappy with the situation at Red Bull

Christian Horner reportedly wants to push Red Bull's legendary chief technical offer Adrian Newey out of Formula 1.

It is claimed that the team principal wants Newey to focus entirely on the RB17 hypercar project but Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton have been tipped to benefit.


Red Bull have faced numerous reports of discontent at the team in recent weeks following an independent investigation into Horner.

The 50-year-old was cleared of any wrongdoing after allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague.

Christian Horner and Lewis Hamilton

Christian Horner reportedly wants to push Adrian Newey out of F1 but Lewis Hamilton could benefit

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But the saga has continued to cloud the sport despite Max Verstappen's back-to-back wins in the first two races of the season.

Verstappen's father Jos recently claimed Red Bull would 'explode' if Horner stayed on.

But Red Bull released a statement earlier this week confirming their full support for the team principal.

Horner has insisted he is the person who 'leads this team' and it appears he could soon make a huge change.

German outlet Auto Motor und Sport claims that Newey is unhappy with the current situation at Red Bull.

Furthermore, the report says Horner is keen on moving the long-serving engineer away from the F1 side of the company due to budget reasons, with the RB17 car he designed set to start production next year.

Newey, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest engineers in the sport's history, has been at Red Bull since 2006.

It remains to be seen if Newey would accept the role change but the same report suggests the possibility of him moving to Ferrari.

Newey has previously revealed he turned down Ferrari on a number of occasions earlier in his career but now regrets not working for the Italian giants.

Ferrari will welcome seven-time world champion Hamilton in 2025 and F1 commentator David Croft has suggested a potential link-up.

Croft said on Sky Sports: "Yes, I would love to see that. I don’t know if Lewis has had a chat with Adrian Newey or not, but if I had the chance to get Adrian Newey to go there, and Ferrari have been trying to get Adrian Newey for the last few years and it hasn’t quite worked out for whatever reason, [I would try].

"With the situation as it is at Red Bull at the moment, is it now a time that Adrian Newey thinks ‘good time to go?’."

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Adrian Newey and Christian Horner

Adrian Newey and Christian Horner have worked together at Red Bull since 2006

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Speaking on the Beyond The Grid podcast last year, Newey opened up on the occasions he turned down Ferrari.

Newey admitted he 'emotionally' regrets saying no, having first rejected them in the 1980s before they returned in 1993.

He added: "1993 was very tempting. I went to Maranello. Jean Todt had just started as team boss.

"He asked me whether it would be a good idea to bring Michael Schumacher or not. The main reason I didn't do it was my first marriage.

"It failed for various reasons. Mainly because I was living in the USA during the season when I was in IndyCar.

Fernando Alonso, Adrian Newey, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton

Adrian Newey previously said he would have liked to have worked with Lewis Hamilton

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"My wife didn't like living there and went back. That put a strain on our marriage, from which we never recovered.

"In 1993 I was a year into my second marriage. I didn't want to make the same mistake again."

He also admitted he would welcome working with Hamilton.

Newey added: "For example, it would have been fabulous to work with Lewis and Fernando (Alonso). But it never happened."

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