Lewis Hamilton will be unable to link up with Adrian Newey until 2027 due to a clause in the latter’s Red Bull contract, according to reports. Newey, who is among the greatest technical masterminds in F1 history, is said to be keen on leaving Red Bull after growing tired of the politics within the team.
Newey remains tied down to Red Bull until the end of 2025 after signing an extension to his previous deal last year. However, it has been reported that he is confident of negotiating an exit that would allow him to step down before his contract runs out.
If the 65-year-old is given permission to leave early, there is no guarantee that he would be able to walk straight into another job. A clause in his contract may prevent him joining one of Red Bull’s rivals for another 12 months beyond the end of his deal in 2025, according to Motorsport.com.
It means that Newey would be unable to start work at Ferrari or any other team until at least 2027. That delay would minimise Newey’s input until the start of 2028, when teams will already be committed to their design philosophies under the new regulations set to be introduced in 2026.
The report states the only way Newey could fast-track a move to another team would be if an agreement was reached to buy out his current contract. However, such a deal would prove hugely expensive as Red Bull would be reluctant to let him join a direct rival on the cheap.
Newey has been linked with a move to Ferrari for several years but has never made the switch, having stayed with Red Bull since 2005. He previously confirmed that he rejected a number of lucrative offers to join the Italian team, telling Sky Sports F1: “It’s come close three times.
“Initially in my IndyCar career where Ferrari decided to build an IndyCar, I was offered to join as chief designer on their project but didn’t feel it was right so I turned that one down. Then, much more seriously, Jean Todt offered for me to join as technical director in 1996.
“At that point, I had offers to stay at Williams, join McLaren or join Ferrari. I thought long and hard about it, but I had a young family at the time and decided I wanted to stay in the UK.”
A third offer was made before the Covid-19 pandemic, with Newey explaining in his book How To Build A Car that Ferrari were prepared to more than double his Red Bull salary.
“I didn’t want to walk out of Red Bull because it feels like home and I’d been heavily involved from the start with Christian [Horner] building the team up from the ashes of Jaguar to where it was today,” he recalled.
“I didn’t want to walk out on that but equally I didn’t want to be in a position where we were operating with one hand tied behind our back in the engine department. It was a very difficult decision.
“Ferrari came up with an incredible offer, very attractive, and it caused me a lot of sleepless nights deciding what to do and who to go for. In the end, it would have felt wrong to walk out on Red Bull.”
