Wow! Adrian Newey is reportedly leaving Red Bull

Well, this could be absolutely seismic: Red Bull design chief Adrian Newey - widely thought of as the greatest F1 designer of all time and the architect of the team’s current domination of the sport - has apparently told the team he’s leaving. Blimey.

There’s no official word from Newey or Red Bull yet, but reports from Auto Motor und Sport and BBC Sport have suggested that the 65-year-old has had enough with the controversy that has engulfed team boss Christian Horner this year.

Allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Horner - which he denies - came to light in February, but the complaint was controversially dismissed before a cache of alleged evidence was leaked to the media just hours later.

The complainant has since been suspended by Red Bull, and is thought to be appealing the verdict of the investigation.

Meanwhile an apparent power struggle between Red Bull’s owners, Horner, advisor Helmut Marko and world champion Max Verstappen continues in the background, despite the team extending its domination on track to a third straight season this year.

Newey could be considered the most crucial part of that success: having won 25 (twenty five!) world championships with his cars - 12 constructors’ and 13 drivers’ titles - in a career spanning more than 30 years, his understanding of the current ground effect aero regs is unparalleled on the grid.

Since ground effect was reintroduced in 2022, Red Bull has taken the chequered flag in 49 grands prix (Verstappen has won 45 of those) and been beaten only seven times over a full race distance. Cripes.

So Newey’s availability will be setting off alarms at every single F1 team: according to reports, Aston Martin made a huge financial offer to secure his services some weeks ago.

Could a move to Ferrari be on the cards? And what will happen to the RB17 V10 hypercar he was designing? So many questions. Expect answers… eventually.