Christian Horner dismisses speculation over Adrian Newey's future at Red Bull, insisting the design-guru is there for "many years to come".

If playing Fantasy F1, while most would be looking to acquire the best driver or engine, a wise player would ensure that they had the best designer on board, and in the eyes of most that can only mean one man, Adrian Newey, winner of countless titles with McLaren, Williams and Red Bull.

He still remains hot property - indeed Mercedes is likely to copy his concept for the RB19 having admitted failure with its own - and consequently is linked with all manner of rivals.

In the wake of recent claims that he might be tempted away from Red Bull, his current contract seemingly up for renewal, Christian Horner insists that Newey isn't going anywhere.

"His heart is still very much in Formula 1," he tells Sky Sports, "and his commitment to the team is, it's not something... we don't talk about contracts or longevity of contracts, but he'll be here for many years to come.

"There's always going to be rumours in this paddock, that's Formula 1," he adds. "He's such an important part of our team and popular part of our team. It's great to have him with us for the long term, but also to be involved in some of the things we're now getting involved in."

Indeed, the Austrian team has given Newey the freedom to work on various projects away from F1 including the Valkyrie hypercar designed by Red Bull and Aston Martin and the company's America's Cup entry.

Horner was also keen to play down speculation over the future of Max Verstappen, who is rumoured to be contemplating retiring when his current contract ends in 2028.

"Max is his own man and he's very, very strong in his opinions and on his outlook on what he wants to do in his life," says Horner. "And I don't see him being a Fernando Alonso and still racing at 41 or 42 years of age, or maybe not in Formula 1, but what his love and passion is, is racing.

"If he's not racing on track at the moment, he's racing in the virtual world, he's driving GT cars for fun, and his passion is just driving and racing, and while that burns within him, he's going to keep going.

"But how long that burns for, that's each individual's own journey, they've got to find that out for themselves."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 19/04/2023 1:17

"When convergence reaches equilibrium then creative minds stagnate. As the great man himself has stated, he flourishes on being handed a challenge, which happens from time to time in F1. In his own words, his greatest satisfaction comes from 'making cars go faster'. He enjoys great freedoms at Red Bull."

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2. Posted by ChickenFarmerF1, 18/04/2023 23:09

"OK, GWS, you got me. Mea culpa. Mercedes sponsor/partner Ineos has a yacht project. Still, why would Newey leave Red Bull for that? At this point I rather doubt money is much of a motivator for him, he's probably more wealthy that he could reasonably spend in the rest of his life. Mercedes would, at best, give him what Red Bull has already, so the only reason to leave would be a dislike of RB management. None of us can know if that's a problem for him, but it's probably fair to say that he would have left long ago if that was an issue.

What might motivate him to leave for a competitor would a challenge that RB can't/won't let him pursue. Going to an underfunded team to see if he can drag them up the order with a better car, ability to work on side projects (like the Aston Martin hypercar), racing yachts, etc. Who knows what really turns his crank these days. I suspect RB will keep hold of his services for as long as he is interested in F1 at all. When he is no longer motivated by the challenge of F1 he will either retire or (more likely) go off and do whatever he is motivated by. Wouldn't surprise me much if he ended up leaving F1 feet first as he seems to truly love it."

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3. Posted by Great_white_shark, 18/04/2023 18:43

"@ChickenFarmerF1 Wrong. Mercedes are working on the Ineos boat and other special projects. The F1 team doesnt concern itself with other "motor racing categories". That is probably done in Germany "

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4. Posted by Spindoctor, 14/04/2023 13:07

"I doubt Newey will "defect" to another F1 team - been there, done that etc. He might, however, find another passion to occupy him more & that is, I suspect, RBR's biggest worry. "

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5. Posted by Superbird70, 13/04/2023 21:17

"They are keeping him around so that an AI can learn from him and develop it own design 'personality'. Better than cryo freezing his brain."

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6. Posted by @R1Racing71, 13/04/2023 18:15

"And just like that, Ferrari’s hopes disappear in a puff of engine smoke."

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7. Posted by ChickenFarmerF1, 13/04/2023 14:28

"Normally I'd say this was just a prelude to an announcement that he's defecting to another team. However, how many other teams would let him explore his interests in other things? Not because they don't want to give him the chance but because they are singularly focused on F1.

McLaren has Indy and road cars. Mercedes has other racing categories. Ferrari has road cars. None of them have racing yachts like Red Bull. Newey has already been at McLaren. I don't see him being attracted to Mercedes or Ferrari at this stage. Aston Martin has the hypercar he worked on, but other than dragging them up to championship contender status there isn't much more for him there.

So I think this might be a rare case of "he's not considering going elsewhere" actually being true."

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Newey at Red Bull for "many years to come"

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