Red Bull’s $48 billion worth partner claims 2026 plans unchanged despite Adrian Newey’s shock exit

Red Bull and Ford have high aspirations from their partnership at the pinnacle of motor racing.

Red Bull’s $48 billion worth partner claims 2026 plans unchanged despite Adrian Newey’s shock exit

Mark Rushbrook and Adrian Newey (Via: Imago)

American Motorsport giant, Ford, will be partnering up with Red Bull to start their own powertrains from 2026. The team will help Red Bull develop their powertrains hand in hand and will try to push the Milton-Keyens-based team toward further greatness.

But, after all the internal chaos at Red Bull, it was recently announced that Aero-genius, Adrian Newey will leave the team during the early months of next year. This is a bit of a setback for Red Bull because of Newey’s genius and importance.

YouTube video

Following this announcement, Ford Performance Motorsports director, Mark Rushbrook was asked about the future and how Newey’s sudden departure may affect them and Red Bull. Rushbrook’s reply showcased that nothing had changed regarding their plans.

FS Video
YouTube video

Adrian Newey has been designing F1 cars for over 20 years.

Nothing but admiration and respect for him and we wish him the best for whatever he will do in the future. Our focus though fully remains on the power unit programme for 2026. That’s unchanged after this news and that is still going ahead full throttle.

Mark Rushbrook via Racingnews365.com

Rushbrook added how he and Ford respect the 65-year-old’s brilliance and time in F1 and wish him the best. But he also admitted that there will be no impact of Newey’s departure on their plans and focus for 2026. The performance director really seems to be motivated and ready to push Red Bull further ahead in the upcoming years.

Ford assures Red Bull will be competitive in 2026

During the same interview, Mark Rushbrook was asked about whether he thinks Red Bull will still be a competitive team in 2026 after Adrian Newey’s departure. The American revealed that he thinks the Austrian outfit has a succession plan and will definitely want to be on top of the new regulations.

Helmut Marko, Max Verstappen and Christian Horner
Helmut Marko, Max Verstappen and Christian Horner (Via: IMAGO)

The Christian Horner-led team has annihilated its competition under the current set of F1 regulations.

Like any good company or any good racing team, you always have a succession plan, and you are always training and developing people within the organisation. That is no different in this case. I am not being disrespectful to Adrian at all because he is fantastic, but every team has a succession plan.

Mark Rushbrook during the same interview

Rushbrook and Ford seem to be very confident that the collaboration with Red Bull will be a successful endeavor for both parties. Only time will tell how Red Bull will perform in 2026, but keeping in view the recent happenings, it will surely be an interesting watch.

In case you missed it: