Red Bull in disarray as team guru drops sext scandal bomb

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner and Geri Horner. Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images.

Red Bull’s worst fears have been realised with the team’s legendary guru dropping a bomb over the so-called “sext” scandal.

Legendary car designer Adrian Newey has decided to leave Red Bull.

According to widespread reports, including Sky Sports, Newey has decided to walk away because of the sexting scandal that threatened to rip the team apart earlier this year.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a female staff member, but an internal investigation carried out by Red Bull’s parent company dismissed the woman’s allegations.

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The employee was then suspended. She is appealing that decision.

There were public calls for Horner to step down as rumours emerged of rifts within the team amid world champion Max Verstappen’s refusals to support Horner in public.

Now the biggest bombshell of the scandal has dropped with Red Bull set to lose the F1 guru that has been widely credited as the mastermind behind the dominant Red Bull cars the world has seen this century.

Newey, 65, has been with Red Bull since 2005 and has played a key role in all of the team’s 13 world titles — seven drivers and six constructors — since 2010.

However, he is believed to have become unsettled at the team ever since Horner was accused of sexual harassment, sending unsolicited text messages and inappropriate behaviour by a female employee.

Max Verstappen celebrates with Adrian Newey, the Chief Technical Officer of Oracle Red Bull Racing, alongside Christian Horner and Sergio Perez. Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images.

After Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport first reported Newey’s position on Friday, the BBC claimed they had “independently verified (the information) with high-level sources close to Red Bull and Newey”.

Sky Sports senior reporter Craig Slater said on Friday: “It’s a fluid situation but there is definitely substance to the notion that Adrian Newey has decided he wants to leave Red Bull and he has turned his thoughts, in effect, away from the team.

“That’s what several senior figures close to Newey have been telling me. He has communicated informally with some senior Red Bull figures that he would like to leave the team.”

The BBC confirmed that Newey’s desire to leave stems from his unhappiness over the Horner situation which has sparked a power struggle at Red Bull.

There were rumours Newey was ready to walk away last month with suggestions at least one team was preparing a “big money” offer to sign him away from Red Bull.

Christian Horner and Geri Horner in Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Aston Martin’s chief and billionaire Lawrence Stroll was reported to have tabled a gargantuan offer to Newey during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Reigning world champ Max Verstappen has also become frustrated with the situation.

His Red Bull future was thrown into doubt last month after his father, Jos, said the team was in danger of being “torn apart” if Horner remained its principal.

A Red Bull team spokesman later Thursday said they were “unaware” of Newey’s apparent desire to leave.

“Adrian is contracted until at least the end of 2025 and we are unaware of him joining any other team,” he told AFP.

Last year, Verstappen and Red Bull produced the most dominant season in F1 history, with the Dutchman winning 19 of the 22 races and the team all but one.

This season they have won four of the first five races.

Newey has also worked with championship-winning teams at Williams and McLaren in his long career.

According to the BBC, he has been strongly linked with a switch to Ferrari. Team principal Frederic Vasseur told AFP last week that “if all the people who are going to do tests at Mugello sign for Ferrari, we will have to buy a bus to get on the tracks”.

Mugello is a circuit not far from Ferrari’s Maranello base.

— with AFP