Why Peter Windsor thinks it’s a ‘good thing’ Adrian Newey left Red Bull when he did

Despite walking away from the 2024 Formula 1 season with silverware, it was a turbulent season for Red Bull on and off the track.

Max Verstappen grabbed his fourth consecutive title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, ultimately beating Lando Norris by 63 points – despite not having the fastest car for much of the year.

While it initially looked as though the Dutchman would continue his dominance from 2023 after he won seven of the opening 10 races, Red Bull suffered a significant drop in performance as McLaren, Ferrari and even Mercedes overtook them in development.

The RB20 was an evolution of the almost unstoppable RB19 – which won all but one race in 2023 – but the car soon became challenging to drive as Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez struggled to extract the most out of it. After the Spanish Grand Prix, the Dutchman went 10 races without a win, only grabbing four podiums in that time.

A key reason for Red Bull’s drop in form was the departure of chief engineer Adrian Newey. The 65-year-old announced his departure back in May, later confirming that he would be joining Aston Martin in the second quarter of 2025.

Newey had been with the Milton Keynes-based outfit since 2006 and designed the cars that saw Red Bull transform from a midfield team to winning eight drivers’ championships and six constructors’ titles.

Peter Windsor thinks Adrian Newey’s departure allowed Red Bull to ‘regroup’

Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley and head of race strategy Will Courtney confirmed their exits soon after – joining Sauber and McLaren respectively – in what were significant losses to the team’s operation.

Given his incredible impact on the team, Newey’s departure certainly hit Red Bull hard the most, as evidenced by their struggles in 2024. However, speaking on his YouTube channel, Peter Windsor believes it was a ‘good thing’ that the engineer left when he did as it allowed the Milton Keynes-based outfit to ‘regroup.’

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He says Red Bull could get over the ‘shock’ of losing Newey and figure out how to operate without him heading into 2025. In his absence, Verstappen did claim two more victories in 2024, coming in Sao Paulo and Qatar.

When a fan said that they could not see Verstappen winning next season due to Newey’s departure on his latest livestream, Windsor replied: “Yeah, it definitely hurt him for sure.

“But already Red Bull, I mean in a way it’s quite a good thing that Newey left when he did because it gave Red Bull to get a time to get over the shock and then to start to think about how they were going to regroup, which they’ve done in the second half of the year and they’ve actually done that quite well, actually I think haven’t they?

“How many people around August would’ve said ‘yeah for sure, Red Bull are going to win Grand Prix before the end of the year, Max is going to win again without Adrian.’ Not many, I think I did, but not many.

“And there he was, winning again. Ok, not in a car that is as good as McLaren in the last race and that’s obviously the benchmark for where they’ll be working over the winter.”

Can Max Verstappen defend his title in 2025?

As F1 prepares for 2025, Verstappen is the driver his rivals will want to beat as he eyes a fifth consecutive championship – a feat only Michael Schumacher achieved between 2000-2004.

However, there are some question marks over Red Bull and whether they can be competitive across a full season when they no longer have the fastest package. The Milton Keynes-based outfit finished third in the Constructors’ Championship in 2024, 77 points behind winners McLaren.

After winning their first title since 1998, it could be argued that McLaren are the team to beat in 2025 as they now boast the strongest package – evidenced by Norris’ dominant victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Despite having a less superior car, Verstappen is incredibly difficult to beat on track with his defensive driving on the inside line into corners, and McLaren will need to be sharp – as well as Ferrari – if they want to get the edge over the Dutchman.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown alluded to his drivers changing their approach to racing Verstappen in 2025 after Norris was run wide by the Red Bull driver numerous times in their battles this season.