Newey rejects Horner's 'abandon ship' claim as he reflects on Red Bull's Renault nightmare

Adrian Newey has suggested Christian Horner did not “fully understand” his “pain and frustration” during Red Bull’s difficult years with Renault engines, responding publicly for the first time to criticism levelled at him in the former team principal’s newly-released autobiography.

Horner, who spent 19 years working alongside Newey at Red Bull through two eras of sustained success — first with Sebastian Vettel from 2010 to 2013, then with Max Verstappen from 2021 to 2024 — recounts in his book Drive a mid-2014 episode in which he became disillusioned with the legendary designer. At the time, Newey had received an approach from Ferrari and was weighing up his future as Red Bull struggled with the new turbo-hybrid regulations.

“I stood behind him and believed that he stood behind me as well. But at the first sign of adversity, Adrian wanted to abandon ship. I felt very sad about that,” Horner wrote.

He added that, despite Newey’s towering importance to the team, “I could no longer rely on him. Our partnership was not as solid as I had previously believed.”

‘I haven’t read any of it yet’

The comments were put to Newey during Friday’s team principals’ press conference at the United States Grand Prix in Austin. The Aston Martin chief, who left Red Bull in 2024 to join the Silverstone outfit the following year, was measured but pointed in his reply.

“You’re quite right in saying that, no, I haven’t read any of it [the book] yet,” replied Newey. “I think 2014, as a chassis designer, if the PU [Power Unit] manufacturer has a bad year, that happens and you accept it.

“If the PU manufacturer has a bad year and doesn’t appear to have any intention of trying to address the problem, that’s altogether a different matter and that’s quite bleak at that point. And that’s the situation that unfortunately we faced in 2014.

“And as it turned out, that situation didn’t really change with that supplier until we changed to Honda in 2019.

“So, you can imagine my pain and frustration at that. I don’t think Christian fully understood that, perhaps. But I was in conversation.”

Newey ultimately turned down Ferrari’s 2014 offer and signed a fresh contract to remain at Red Bull, though he soon began dividing his time between Formula 1 and other projects within the wider company. He stayed a further decade before departing for Aston Martin, where he now serves as team principal and managing technical partner.

‘Christian and I remain friends’

Keen to draw a line under any personal rift, Newey stressed the pair remain close — he is godfather to Horner’s daughter, Olivia.

“The rest of it [in the book] I really can’t comment, but Christian and I remain friends. As many of you know, I am godfather to his daughter Olivia, so, yeah.”

In promoting the book, Horner drew parallels between Newey’s current task of reviving a struggling Aston Martin and their early days at Red Bull following the energy drink firm’s takeover of an underachieving Jaguar team in 2005. Newey agreed with the comparison.

“I think there are actually a lot of parallels between when I started at Red Bull and when I’ve started at Aston Martin,” said Newey. “Both teams that through their history had had quite a lot of turmoil with changes of owners, changes of senior managers, etcetera.

“It’s then really trying to, as we’ve spoken before, get everybody working together, try to break down silos, improve the culture. And that’s been exactly the same again.”

Speaking to Sky Sports News earlier this week, Horner was full of praise for his former colleague’s standing in the sport even as Aston Martin search for form.

“Adrian is without doubt the best designer that Formula 1 has ever seen. His track record speaks for itself,” Horner said. “Lawrence [Stroll] is a very successful guy. He’s a very driven guy and has obviously invested heavily in that team. Honestly, I think they’ve got their own journey that they’re on, and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.”

The war of words — or rather, the gentle rebuttal — comes as Formula 1 arrives in Austin for the United States Grand Prix, the first leg of another Americas triple-header, live on Sky Sports F1. Qualifying takes place at 10pm on Saturday, with the race at 8pm on Sunday.