Newey to join Red Bull - Confirmed

By Ian Lockwood
November 8 2005

Technical director Adrian Newey is set to leave McLaren, the BBC reports, and join Red Bull. Newey would team up again with Scottish driver David Coulthard, with whom he worked at both McLaren and Williams.

The designer signed a new deal in July, but that was thought to be only a short-term deal for the 2006 season.

The 46-year-old Englishman won four world titles with Williams in the early 1990s before joining McLaren in 1997 and winning two more championships.

BBC motor racing correspondent Maurice Hamilton said the move would destabilise McLaren in the long term.

"It's not just the fact that he's designing the car, it's building up the structure within that team," he said.

"If you take the king pin away, you get a knock-on effect. Other people might leave and some people might go with him."

In their first season after taking over the Jaguar team, Red Bull finished seventh in the constructors' championship in 2006, with Coulthard 12th in the drivers' championship.

Newey came close to joining the Jaguar team from McLaren in 2001 but changed his mind at the last minute, prompting a legal battle between the two.

A Red Bull spokesman said: "Newey will join the team as chief technical officer at the end of February 2006."

The 46-year-old Englishman won four world titles with Williams before joining McLaren and winning two more.

BBC motor racing correspondent Maurice Hamilton said the move would destabilise McLaren in the long term.

"It's not just the fact that he's designing the car, it's building up the structure within that team," he said.

"If you take the king pin away, you get a knock-on effect. Other people might leave and some people might go with him."

Source:BBC