Red Bull CEO Unaffected by Adrian Newey’s Exit as 2026 Max Verstappen Fear is Put to Rest

Now that Adrian Newey is leaving Red Bull, the situation at the team does not look so good. At the very next race, after the announcement, it became clear that the RB20 could not catch up with Lando Norris. This has led to questions being tossed around in the F1 community: Will Newey’s exit mean an end to Verstappen’s dominance?

While there is still one more year where Red Bull can benefit from Newey’s engineering, the situation will change in 2026. The upcoming regulation changes are a shift towards a zero-carbon emissions plan that the FOM is trying to achieve. Red Bull for the first time, will be building their own power unit with the help of Ford. Now that F1 is about to take a step into a new era, how will Max Verstappen continue to dominate through the changes?

Oliver Mintzlaff backs Max Verstappen for 2026

Oliver Mintzlaff looked into his F1 responsibilities after Adrian Newey decided to leave the team. This led to many insights from the Red Bull GmbH Managing Director. One of them is some words of comfort for Red Bull fans who are worried about the current situation of the team. Max Verstappen lost his second Grand Prix of the season and we are just 6 races in and this is not a good look for the Milton Keynes outfit.

After the Miami Grand Prix, Oliver Mintzlaff explained his take on where the team stands according to the upcoming regulations. As reported by bild.de Mintzlaff said, “In 2026, we want to continue where we are currently: at the top of Formula 1. Of course, there is no guarantee of this, but while we have proven that we can handle major rule changes, other teams have not managed to close the gap for three years to close us.”

When you talk about a team like Red Bull, it’s clear that Adrian Newey is not the only mastermind behind the car. All the other engineers and mechanics at Milton Keynes will still put in the work and try to build a world championship-winning car. Mintzlaff added, “Max will also have noticed this and it makes me look totally positive into the future. We haven’t just been preparing for 2026 since yesterday.”

Concluding his statement, Mintzlaff signed off, saying, “Sure, building your own engine is a big task and challenge, but we are confident that we can master this step. This is the next stage of development for Red Bull.” Now we all know that regulation changes can put a dominant championship-winning team down to the midfield, as we have seen with Mercedes and Red Bull is doing everything to avoid that.

The fall of Mercedes and its relation to Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton carried Mercedes to victory 6 times in a row until 2020. That being said, the 7-time world champion is currently struggling to keep himself in points, with him currently being 9th on the pecking order. The 2022 regulations introduced a budget cap to close the gap between low-funded teams like Haas and dominant teams like Mercedes and Ferrari.

While Ferrari had no problem adapting to these changes, Mercedes fell hard. Power unit development halted from 2022 onwards, shifting focus to sustainable engines for 2026, aiming at cost reduction and sustainability goals. However, this is not benefiting Mercedes in any way. With the way things go in Formula 1, there is a chance that Red Bull might lose their pace once the cars have a complete overhaul.

Adrian Newey is rumored to join another team and while the Red Bull MD believes that the team is fine without him, only time will tell what will happen in the 2026 season. Luckily, we will get to see how Red Bull does with their car in 2025 to see the immediate consequences of Newey leaving. That will give us a gauge of how well Red Bull can function without their recent CTO.

Do you think Red Bull will do well in the upcoming seasons, or will Max Verstappen fall out of his prime? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.