Brown: Newey won't be last domino to fall at Red Bull F1 team

On Wednesday, it was announced that design guru Newey would leave Red Bull after a 19-year stint, during which he helped the team win seven drivers' and six constructors' championships with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen as its star drivers.

It is understood Newey decided to leave Red Bull after becoming disillusioned with the outfit's internal politics, which has devolved into a battle for control between the Thai side of the business backing team boss Christian Horner and the Austrian side aligned with Helmut Marko and the Verstappen family.

The matter exploded into the public domain due to an internal investigation into Horner's alleged inappropriate behaviour towards a female employee – a complaint was initially dismissed but has since been appealed against.

Rival team chief Brown says he wasn't surprised by someone with Newey's "very high integrity" leaving Red Bull as a result and expects Newey won't be the last high-profile name to quit.

"Am I surprised? Six months ago, I would have been surprised," Brown said. "But given everything that's gone on since the start of the year and knowing Adrian pretty well, and he's a very high-integrity individual, I'm not surprised he's moving on.

"I think the stuff that's going on there is a bit destabilising. That's probably the first domino to fall, my guess is not the last based on the resumes that are flying around."

Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

When asked to clarify if McLaren had received more resumes since Red Bull's turmoil kicked off, Brown replied: "Yes, we have seen an increase in CVs coming our way from the team and I think Adrian is the most successful designer of all time.

"So in addition to the technical [quality] that he brings to the racing team, people want to work for people like Adrian and work alongside him.

"So I think they will be missing what he brings to the team from a pure technical point of view and then I think the leadership and the excitement people get from working with him will be missed."

Newey is set to be available for rival teams from March 2025, with Ferrari a strong contender to snap up the 65-year-old. Meanwhile, Brown played down the idea of McLaren making a move for him.

"As far as McLaren is concerned, I'm very happy with all the work the men and women at McLaren are doing," he added.

"I think we've started to show since the second half of last year that they know how to put performance on the car, so I've got all the faith in the world with the team that we have.

"We're on a quest to get back to the front and I think we have the people, the talent, the equipment, the drivers to get there. So we're going to just stay the course."