Newey says Renault engine set off thoughts of leaving Red Bull

Adrian Newey says Renault's uncompetitive engine at the start of F1's hybrid era led him to become disillusioned with F1 and to consider leaving Red Bull Racing.

Newey, whose designs have won ten Constructors' Championships with three teams - Williams, McLaren and Red Bull - has been at the helm of the Milton Keynes-based outfit's design department since 2006.

But as one of the most successful designers and technical directors in the sport's history, it was unsurprising that Ferrari came calling. The Scuderia made several attempts to secure the Briton's services, the last of which was in 2014 when it offered Newey a massive contract.

A move to the House of Maranello was aborted however, but the botched opportunity coupled with the poor performance of Renault's hybrid engine left Newey with a few existential questions as he explained in an interview with The Race's Mark Hughes.

"Back then I was pretty disillusioned with the whole thing to be honest in as much as … obviously I nearly joined Ferrari but didn’t, which was kind of [part of it]… but more than anything, although I felt happy at Red Bull and didn’t really want to move teams, the only thing that had pushed me towards even thinking about moving teams was that we were stuck with an uncompetitive engine."

As the team's historic partner, Renault had powered Red Bull to four consecutive titles during F1's V8 era. But the transition to hybrid power units was anything but a successful affair for the French manufacturer.

"We had a supplier that seemed more interested in the marketing angle that came from being in F1 than actually being competitive," added Newey.

"If you have an engine partner who comes up with a power unit that’s below the competitors but shows a real desire and a will to fix it and go forward, then you accept it.

"But one that won’t recognise it’s behind and doesn’t seem to be interested in doing anything about it is altogether more difficult. So it caused me to lose motivation. I still enjoyed F1 but not like that."

• Read also: Newey says Verstappen's reputation for being 'wild' is unfair

As he pondered his fate, an opportunity to get involved in two outside projects - Ben Ainslie's America's Cup project and a collaboration with Aston Martin on its Valkyrie road car - saved him from jumping ship.

"I didn’t want to change teams - and that’s really where the road car project came in," he said.

"That kept me motivated and occupied for a bit and then once we’d signed the deal with Honda and it was clear that we had a partner that, OK, might not be quite there at that point, they definitely had the drive and motivation to get there, that changed things."

As Red Bull's chief technical officer, Newey is fully committed to Formula 1 and to his team's success, his vision and creativity acting as a guiding light for the outfit's squadron of engineers.

Newey was among those who heavily criticized the prescriptive nature of F1's new regulations where they were first announced in 2020.

But when Red Bull's design guru properly dug into the rules, his view of the latter changed.

"I do enjoy reg changes but when I first saw these regs I was quite depressed by them," he remembered. "At first sight, they appear to be very prescriptive.

"But as you dig into it more then – particularly in the area of the sidepod and floor – there’s actually a reasonable degree of freedom. More than you first think."

So far, Red Bull's RB18 has won two races, courtesy of Max Verstappen, with the Dutchman currently racing in a league of his own with new arch-rival Charles Leclerc.

But how does Newey foresee his future in F1?

“That’s a good question. I enjoy design," he said. "Design combined with competition has been my career really and I’ve hugely enjoyed that but it does bring its own pressures of course.

"I’m 63 and I’d get bored if I stopped and did absolutely nothing. I always thought I’d do a hobby – rebuild motorbikes, that sort of thing.

"I think that would keep me occupied for a bit but ultimately I would get bored of that too.

"So maybe trying to get in a position where I can be involved as an overview – which I think is what Rory [Byrne] does at Ferrari now – which is quite a nice place to be. So long as you can contribute in a positive way.

"I’d hate to be a distraction. ‘Oh, Adrian’s coming in today’. That means handing the reins over to somebody who is responsible, and I’d be purely a contributor as long as they found that useful."

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