Newey Here to Stay

By Ian Lockwood
March 20 2006

Former McLaren Technical Director, Adrian Newey, caused a major stir in F1 circles when he announced he was defecting from Woking to Milton Keynes. He has now gone on record as saying he intends to remain at the Red Bull stable for the long term.

Adrian Newey has already said how well he feels he has settled into his role at Red Bull Racing. He appreciates the structure and mentality of the team and the ease at which decisions that make the car go faster can be made. He was becoming frustrated at McLaren, by the "management by commitee" style which hindered development and slowed progress.

Newey's contract at Red Bull expires at the end of the 2008 season, but the newly invigorated designer says he intends to stay on longer than that. This may come as a further surprise to some, who suspected the 47 year old was tempted to Red Bull by a large salary which he intended to use to ease himself out of F1 and into retirement, or to fund the design of an Americas Cup Yacht - a project which Newey has shown an interest in on several occasions.

Speaking of his long term plans, Newey explained: ''There is no point going beyond a three-year contract, but the goal is more long-term.''