Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has confirmed that legendary chief technical officer Adrian Newey has signed a new contract with the Milton Keynes-based team, with Marko now hoping that he’ll “retire with us”.
Extending Newey’s contract was very much expected to happen, with the 64-year-old having astonishingly designed all of Red Bull’s title-winning cars.
Newey has been a key figure at Red Bull since he officially joined the team in 2006, after opting to leave frontrunners at the time McLaren in order to move to Milton Keynes.
There is no doubt that his time at Red Bull has been extraordinary, given how influential he’s been to everything the team have accomplished.
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To this day, Newey’s designs are responsible for 11 world titles, with the likelihood being that the number will increase to 13 come the end of 2023, following the RB19’s complete domination this season.
With his contract having been set to expire at the end of this season, though, there were a few suggestions as to whether he’d leave Red Bull, in order to pursue a new challenge.
Quite clearly this isn’t the case, with Red Bull having acted quickly to retain Newey for many more years to come, in the hope that their stunning relationship continues to blossom.
The team actually remained fairly quiet following the rumours that a new deal had been signed by Newey; however, Marko officially confirmed that an extension had been agreed upon.
“The contract extension with Adrian Newey shows that we continue to build on continuity and that there is an extremely pleasant working atmosphere here,” Marko told German publication Auto Bild.
“Adrian has been with us for 17 years and although it is not a contract for life, he has always received attractive offers from the competition and will continue to do so.
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“I hope and am sure that he will retire with us.”
Keeping hold of Newey is clearly key to Red Bull’s success, with nobody currently being able to match the Austrians consistently since the introduction of the new aerodynamic regulations.
Since the new regs were introduced last season, Red Bull have won 21 of the 26 completed races, with Newey’s designs being responsible for each of the victories.