Red Bull offer update Lewis Hamilton and George Russell won’t like

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has delivered a crushing blow to the likes of Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Toto Wolff at Mercedes by insisting that chief technology officer Adrian Newey will be going nowhere for the foreseeable future. Newey is widely regarded as one of the most successful car designers in F1 history after creating title-winning cars at Williams and McLaren before joining Red Bull, where he has remained since 2006.

Speculation has grown in recent weeks over Newey’s long-term future at Red Bull, with the 64-year-old no longer working for the Austrian outfit on a full-time basis but still very much involved in the engineering side of things. However, it seems as though he will be staying put for at least a few more years, with Horner adamant that Red Bull are not worried about the possibility of losing their prized asset just yet.

“His heart is still very much in Formula One,” Horner told Sky Sports. “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 One.”

“He’s such an important part of our team and a 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.”

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Newey has been credited with taking a leading role in the design of Red Bull’s car concept over the last two years, with the wholesale regulation changes in 2021 suiting a particular area of his expertise thanks to the introduction of ground effect aerodynamics. It seems clear that Newey will continue to mastermind the team’s construction process for the foreseeable future, which could spell bad news for Mercedes given their lack of pace in comparison to Red Bull in recent seasons.

Damon Hill recently suggested that Newey might be tempted to jump ship to the Silver Arrows in order to embark on a fresh challenge at some point further down the line, although the latter appears to remain fully committed to his current role at Red Bull based on Horner’s latest comments.

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“His success rate is unbelievable, every team he’s been to virtually he’s won a Constructors’ Championship, drivers’ titles, I’ve lost count how many, so he’s a key man and what he has to offer any team is invaluable,” Hill told the F1 Nation podcast before going on to explain how he was left intrigued by the way Newey made a point of checking out the Mercedes design on the grid at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

“I can’t help ignoring this thing he did in Bahrain, where he stood in front of the Mercedes on the grid, with his clipboard, and stood there for a long time looking at their front wings. Anybody who knows Adrian will go: ‘Wait a minute, he’s already got the most dominant car in F1, why’s he looking at the Mercedes front wings?’.

“Was he really looking at the front wings? Or was he just standing in front of a Mercedes saying: ‘I’m interested’. Is that what he was really saying?”

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