The whole of Formula 1 is looking forward to Adrian Newey. The star designer will end his 19-year partnership with Red Bull at the beginning of 2025. The 65-year-old is already excluded from day-to-day F1 business. The question now is what happens next. While everyone else is waiting, Newey is competing in a Formula 1 car in Monaco this weekend.
Yes, you heard that right. Newey is on the starting list Monaco Grand Prix Historique, a famous annual event leading up to the Monaco GP at the end of May. Cars from over 100 years of motorsport history are included. Newey will, not for the first time, drive a Lotus 49B from 1968. Motorsport is not just a job, but also a leisure time for him. So the tempting retirement is a good opportunity to take a look at the other sides of Adrian Newey.
Adrian Newey, the racing driver
For Newey, motorsport has always been more than just a professional field in which he has been active since the beginning of the 80s. He knew how to invest what he earned in his role as designer of winning cars for Williams and McLaren in the 90s and early 2000s. Initially in classic cars. Not quickly at first either. He first competed in regularity rallies with a historic Jaguar SS 100 from the 1930s.
But that just awakened Newey’s desire for competition. So the man, who was then approaching 50, bought a Ford GT40 with which he began competing in historic races. With appropriate seriousness – and a lot of kindling. In 2006 he wrecked the GT40 at the Le Mans Legends, and just months later a Jaguar E-Type at the Goodwood Revival.
Newey almost takes a podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
He didn’t let that deter him. On the contrary. While talking to a friend, the idea of competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the real one, nothing historical – came up in 2007. Years later, Newey told the official Le Mans website that it started as a “pub conversation” between three friends. They came into contact with AF Corse, now Ferrari’s Le Mans factory team. In 2007 Newey started with Joe Macari and Ben Aucott in a Ferrari F430 GT2. It came 22nd overall, fourth place in the GT2 class.
In the meantime, Newey was already driving his old F1 cars. He got an RB5 from Red Bull, the group’s first winning car. He drove numerous F1 cars at the Festival of Speed in Goodwood. He repeatedly made guest appearances in various racing series, such as Ginetta Cup and Lamborghini Super Trofeo. He still drives the old GT40, last year together with Ford boss Jim Farley, among others.
By the way, his driving background commands more than just respect from those who drive his F1 cars. “He was very attached to the driver’s side,” recalls ex-Red Bull driver Alex Albon. Working with Newey was unique: “He really wanted to know what it felt like. I think in a way he still understood that the car needed a certain setup to get the most out of it.”
Newey’s new hobbies, projects – sailing tour around the world?
Now 65, Newey has also discovered a new hobby for himself. At Red Bull, his F1 role has changed in recent years, to the point where he only spent half of his time on the F1 drawing board. Experimentation in other areas began in 2014 with a project for the America’s Cup boat race. The Red Bull Advanced Technologies team has even built a submarine.
This is probably not the last reason why the idea of going sailing arose in Newey. Last year he ordered his first sailing yacht, a 27.4 meter long Oyster 885. He partially helped with the final design himself. The yacht is scheduled to be delivered in 2024, Then Newey first plans a trip to the Mediterranean. And then? Maybe even a trip around the world with it, he suggests.
Sounds like months of time invested – less like a direct switch to start working with a new team on the new 2026 cars. But can he really go to sea for a few months and leave Formula 1 behind him completely?
“When I was in my 50s, I thought I would be lying on the beach when I was 60,” Newey told the Telegraph just six months ago. “But the reality is, I would get bored. I know I would.” Like many F1 engineers, he therefore concluded: “As long as I feel I have something to contribute…”