Red Bull has the “strength” to deal with Newey, Wheatley exits

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has downplayed the impact of losing two key members of staff ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Technical guru Adrian Newey announced his high-profile departure from the Milton Keynes-based outfit at the Miami Grand Prix, working on the brand’s RB17 project in the time ahead of what was later announced as a switch to Aston Martin.

Another loss came later in the year as sporting director Jonathan Wheatley agreed to become the team principal for Audi’s F1 effort, completing a year of gardening leave alongside the outfit’s final year under the Sauber guise.

Both were part of the Red Bull set-up since the team’s infancy in the championship, playing vital roles in the championship wins for Sebastian Vettel (2010-13) and Max Verstappen (2021-24) – but Horner is unmoved by the potential effects their departures could have.

“There’s only two going and obviously, Adrian left in Miami, so we haven’t seen him. He’s been working on the RB17 since then, so he’s not been working on any F1 projects,” Horner told Autosport.

“Obviously, sad to see them go. They’ve both played important roles in the team over their tenure in the team.

“But the show goes on, and I think we’ve got the strength and depth we’ve got. We have that and arguably 2026 – what we’re gearing up for in 2026 with our own power unit – is by far the biggest challenge and the most ambitious project this team has ever taken on.  

“So, 2025, Jonathan will step off the pitwall, but other than that, everything remains the same.”

Insisting the team was not entering a rebuild, Horner added: “I would say rebuild goes way too far for two people that have left. It’s evolution.

“It’s something that has been on the cards for a little while, so something that has been part of the planning for some time.”

Red Bull, which failed to retain its constructors’ title after being overtaken by McLaren and Ferrari last term, has made further structural changes to the management team, including the promotion of Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to head of racing.

Former senior strategy engineer Stephen Knowles takes on a new head of sporting regulations role which will help ensure compliance with F1’s rules as the liaison point with the FIA, while senior engineer of car engineering Richard Wolverson is taking on the head of racing operations job.

World Drivers Champion Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Gianpiero Lambiase, Red Bull Racing race engineer

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

On whether Lambiase would still be Verstappen’s voice of reason, Horner explained: “Yes, he’ll still be working directly with Max. He just takes on a broader role, obviously, as he steps up.”

Pointing to the changes made, he added: “It’s just a natural progression trackside with those personnel.  

“It’s great because it gives them an opportunity and sometimes an organisation, if it remains stagnant, it fails to progress.

“So, I think this is a fantastic opportunity of progression for many people in the team that have been long standing team members that deserve that opportunity.”