Verstappen understands Newey decision: 'That's what I told Adrian'

Max Verstappen does not think Adrian Newey's departure from Red Bull Racing could have been avoided. The Dutchman says he understands the master designer's decision and says he spoke to Newey about his imminent departure.

It is a question asked to all Red Bull promoters: will there be a walkout at the Austrian Formula One team now that Newey has announced his departure? Team boss Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko, among others, already assured that this was not the case. Marko dismissed the speculation as "wishful thinking from the competition".

Verstappen stressed that Newey had played a crucial role in the team and that he was very sorry to see him leave. "Adrian has been incredibly important to the team when he joined and he already arrived as a legend and it only became even bigger. I appreciate a lot what we have been doing together and also over the years his role has evolved also," he says.

The three-time world champion does not see a deflation happening anytime soon. "At the moment, there's a really strong technical group around Adrian, and I'm pretty confident that we can keep it going, but it's never nice to see someone like Adrian leave, that's for sure," Verstappen stressed.

Verstappen says he spoke to Newey about his upcoming departure and says he understands his decision. "At the end of the day, you also don't stop people from leaving. If they want to leave, they will go, and that's what I said to Adrian. You do what you think is best for yourself and your family. That's how you should go about it in life," the championship leader concluded.