Red Bull’s confirmation that Newey is to leave is not expected to come until Thursday at the earliest.
This is out of respect for the memory of Ayrton Senna – Wednesday, 1 May is the 30th anniversary of the legendary three-time champion’s death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix in a Williams car designed by Newey.
Newey, who along with former Williams technical director Patrick Head was cleared of Senna’s manslaughter after lengthy legal proceedings in Italy, has regularly spoken about his sadness at the Brazilian’s loss.
Newey has been unsettled at Red Bull by the fallout from allegations by a female employee that team principal Christian Horner was guilty of sexual harassment and controlling, coercive behaviour.
Horner has always denied the charges and was cleared by an internal Red Bull investigation in February. A second investigation is under way after the complainant appealed.
The allegations unearthed a power struggle at Red Bull between Horner and motorsport director Helmut Marko, and between the Thai controlling shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya and minority shareholders Red Bull GmbH in Austria.
There has also been growing tension in recent times between Horner and Newey over the designer’s importance to the team.
Horner has seemed to diminish Newey’s input in some interviews, and emphasise the role of the rest of the design group under technical director Pierre Wache. Newey, who eschews the public eye, has privately pushed back against this inside the team.
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