Adrian Newey has re-upped his contract with Red Bull in a new multi-year agreement. But the world's most successful F1 designer and the genius behind the team's four consecutive double world titles is moving beyond F1. But for what?
There's no doubt that Newey's contract has more zeros than we can count, but more importantly, it keeps him out of the clutches of rival teams (Ferrari reportedly offered him a mint to come on for the 2014 season). Because of that, Newey had a massive amount of leverage, allowing him to dictate his future role at Red Bull.
According to the team, Newey will be "advising and mentoring Infiniti Red Bull Racing as it develops its Formula One cars over the next few seasons." But his new contract has him working on new Red Bull Technology projects. We have no idea what the means, but it sounds cool, and it's the kind of thing that lends itself well to a company that's taken the marketing of highly caffeinated sugar water into the realm of performance art.
For now, all Red Bull is saying is that "the details of the new projects will be announced in due course."
After two decades of work with Williams, McLaren, and finally, Red Bull, there's no doubt the 55-year old designer wants to expand his portfolio. There's an interested in sports car racing and he's talked about the America's Cup, both of which could benefit from his talents.
We're hoping for two redesigned Red Bull Cans. One that performs well for four years and another that will struggle to reach its full potential.