James Vowles Fires Blatant Dig at Christian Horner’s ‘Politics’ to Complete Adrian Newey’s Williams Move

The Adrian Newey to Williams momentum is picking up. The Technical mastermind who left Red Bull because of the tension-filled atmosphere induced by TP Christian Horner’s ‘power struggle’, is being pursued by Williams TP James Vowles. To make this reunion a concrete reality, Vowles has now openly taken a dig at the ‘politics’ within Red Bull.

On Friday in Miami, Vowles confirmed that he would love for Adrian Newey to return to Williams to manifest the “dream team”. Newey has previously designed cars for the legacy team from 1991 to 1996, winning 4 constructors’ championships. But the current state of the Oxfordshire-based team is disheartening. They continue to struggle amidst the backmarkers. Hence, like a smart leader, Vowles wants to restore Williams’ lost glory.

“It was a very light conversation,” Vowles told F1TV, about his discussion with Newey. “He’s an icon of the sport, one that I very much look up to. Every team he’s been to, they haven’t just turned into winners. They have turned into championship-dominating entities. That includes McLaren, ourselves (Williams), and Red Bull. So it’ll be a miss, at the bare minimum, to have a conversation about things. I can imagine there are A-teams on the grid that would very much want him to be a part of their success and their story. So the great thing he has is being the best that’s ever existed.”

After showering praise on F1’s most successful designer, Vowles highlighted why Williams is a better employer than RB. “The offering we have is different to others,” he added, before taking a dig at Horner-induced tension within Red Bull. “There’s no politics where I am. We are still a family-type entity and that’s a good thing to have. That means he (Newey) can stretch his feet in the way that he wants to.”

The ‘power struggle’ within Red Bull seems to be crumbling them from within. Rumors of reigning World Champion Max Verstappen keep intensifying and, as per McLaren CEO Zak Brown, a lot of Red Bull employees are looking for job opportunities with rival teams.

Zak Brown claims Red Bull is ‘destabilized’ after Adrian Newey’s exit

Adrian Newey is possibly one of the calmest figures in the F1 paddock. As per insiders, the former Red Bull CTO only wanted to stick to his job at Red Bull, but the ‘politics’ threw him off. Helmut Marko even said that without motivation, “burnout” was awaiting Newey. Moreover, McLaren’s Zak Brown has hinted at worse times to come for the Milton Keynes outfit.

“I think the stuff that’s going on there, it’s a bit destabilizing,” Brown said in Miami. “[Newey is] probably the first domino to fall. My guess is it’s not the last based on the résumés that are flying around. We’ve seen an increase in CVs coming our way from the team.”

This indicates that darker times could be awaiting Christian Horner & Co. The investigation still isn’t concluded, Newey has departed, and Verstappen and Marko’s future remain dicey. Can Williams emerge as the big winners here by luring Newey?