Adrian Newey to Ferrari? Is it possible?

[Sandpit Steve]

Adrian W said:

I wonder how long his non comp is

Sky reported that his contract ends at the end of 2025, and that he has 12 months’ gardening leave built in - so in theory he can’t work for another team before Jan 2027.

This is complicated legally by the fact that he’s a contractor rather than an employee, so different laws apply to the arrangement.

I suspect that RB have very little chance of enforcing anything in court, other than a financial settlement, should AN suddenly turn up at Ferrari (in the EU rather than UK) as an employee.

[HocusPocus]

Fat Thor said:

Interesting about the engine…. Another theory i’could be he enjoys working with Honda and would like to continue?

Ferrari have history in producing stonking oily engines....well allegedly

[TikTak]

wiliferus said:

I’d love to see him at Williams to drag them back to form but I just can’t see it sadly.

Oh I agree, that would be lovely.

I'd love to see "more competitive" Ferrari but in all honesty, Newey leaving the sport will even it up a hell of a lot. The chasing pack are close and 5% off the top and change in regs will hopefully make it incredibly close.

Like someone else said, although it's not a certainty, I'd rather he doesn't go somewhere else and make it one-sided.

[Megaflow]

Sandpit Steve said:

Adrian W said:

I wonder how long his non comp is

Sky reported that his contract ends at the end of 2025, and that he has 12 months’ gardening leave built in - so in theory he can’t work for another team before Jan 2027.

This is complicated legally by the fact that he’s a contractor rather than an employee, so different laws apply to the arrangement.

I suspect that RB have very little chance of enforcing anything in court, other than a financial settlement, should AN suddenly turn up at Ferrari (in the EU rather than UK) as an employee.

Indeed. I very much doubt they'd be successful in stopping somebody working for nearly 3 years when he is rumoured (almost certainly) to be a contractor.

Side note. The finalised 2026 chassis regulations have not even been published yet and the teams are banned from working on 2026 cars until 1st Jan 2025. That gives Newey and the new team 8 months to sort the legal side, and more importantly the money that will go with it, to sort this out.

[p1stonhead]

Megaflow said:

Sandpit Steve said:

Adrian W said:

I wonder how long his non comp is

Sky reported that his contract ends at the end of 2025, and that he has 12 months’ gardening leave built in - so in theory he can’t work for another team before Jan 2027.

This is complicated legally by the fact that he’s a contractor rather than an employee, so different laws apply to the arrangement.

I suspect that RB have very little chance of enforcing anything in court, other than a financial settlement, should AN suddenly turn up at Ferrari (in the EU rather than UK) as an employee.

Indeed. I very much doubt they'd be successful in stopping somebody working for nearly 3 years when he is rumoured (almost certainly) to be a contractor.

Side note. The finalised 2026 chassis regulations have not even been published yet and the teams are banned from working on 2026 cars until 1st Jan 2025. That gives Newey and the new team 8 months to sort the legal side, and more importantly the money that will go with it, to sort this out.

I also cant believe that Sky have any insider information as to what’s in his contract to be honest.

[vaud]

Sandpit Steve said:

I suspect that RB have very little chance of enforcing anything in court, other than a financial settlement, should AN suddenly turn up at Ferrari (in the EU rather than UK) as an employee.

It will depend on what the contract says. And injunctions do happen.

Shame that BV72 isn't around still as he would explain the complexities and scenarios of a non-compete.

My non-compete lists 10 companies (and the entity is specified) that I cant work for and the duration.

[p1stonhead]

vaud said:

Sandpit Steve said:

I suspect that RB have very little chance of enforcing anything in court, other than a financial settlement, should AN suddenly turn up at Ferrari (in the EU rather than UK) as an employee.

It will depend on what the contract says. And injunctions do happen.

Shame that BV72 isn't around still as he would explain the complexities and scenarios of a non-compete.

My non-compete lists 10 companies (and the entity is specified) that I cant work for and the duration.

Would be interesting to know if a non compete would be enforceable when there are only 9 other places to work in the same industry and banning him from them would make him unemployed if he only wanted to do that same role.

[Muzzer79]

p1stonhead said:

vaud said:

Sandpit Steve said:

I suspect that RB have very little chance of enforcing anything in court, other than a financial settlement, should AN suddenly turn up at Ferrari (in the EU rather than UK) as an employee.

It will depend on what the contract says. And injunctions do happen.

Shame that BV72 isn't around still as he would explain the complexities and scenarios of a non-compete.

My non-compete lists 10 companies (and the entity is specified) that I cant work for and the duration.

Would be interesting to know if a non compete would be enforceable when there are only 9 other places to work in the same industry and banning him from them would make him unemployed if he only wanted to do that same role.

He won't have a non-compete, at least not in the sense of a permanent one.

He'll have a clause stating that he can't work for another team for a specified period of time following his exit. 12 months is reported. After that, he's a free agent.

One suspects that he will have negotiated within that contract that the 12 months is paid by the team.

[Sandpit Steve]

Muzzer79 said:

p1stonhead said:

vaud said:

Sandpit Steve said:

I suspect that RB have very little chance of enforcing anything in court, other than a financial settlement, should AN suddenly turn up at Ferrari (in the EU rather than UK) as an employee.

It will depend on what the contract says. And injunctions do happen.

Shame that BV72 isn't around still as he would explain the complexities and scenarios of a non-compete.

My non-compete lists 10 companies (and the entity is specified) that I cant work for and the duration.

Would be interesting to know if a non compete would be enforceable when there are only 9 other places to work in the same industry and banning him from them would make him unemployed if he only wanted to do that same role.

He won't have a non-compete, at least not in the sense of a permanent one.

He'll have a clause stating that he can't work for another team for a specified period of time following his exit. 12 months is reported. After that, he's a free agent.

One suspects that he will have negotiated within that contract that the 12 months is paid by the team.

He [Newey] has no contract with Red Bull, if as reported he works as a contractor through a service company. If Newey as an individual decides to leave the employment of AN Ltd, and take a job at Ferrari SpA, can the contract between RBR and AN Ltd possibly prevent that from happening?

[vaud]

We would need see the contract and be a specialist employment lawyer.

[Forester1965]

Muzzer79 said:

He won't have a non-compete, at least not in the sense of a permanent one.

He'll have a clause stating that he can't work for another team for a specified period of time following his exit. 12 months is reported. After that, he's a free agent.

One suspects that he will have negotiated within that contract that the 12 months is paid by the team.

None of us know what the contract says.

If Newey is working under a B2B contract for provision of services rather than an employment one, courts may interprate things a little differently. These contracts are viewed as more of a level playing field from a bargaining perspective.

Not sure a paid gardening leave provision would be in there as that'd be more of an employment related clause. It'd also be unusual for a company to pay a supplier through a period covered by a restrictive covenant.

Considering Newey's position in his field, the incestuous nature of the F1 market place and the damage his knowledge could do to RBR if handed to another team right away, allied to his B2B contract, I wouldn't expect a court to be too fast ruling against any restrictive covenant.

More likely RBR will demand a kings ransom from whoever would take him on.

[Gary C]

It would though, be the crowing moment of AN's career if he went to Ferrari with Lewis and won the WDC/WCC, wouldn't it

If only it were to come true, what a fairy tail that would be.

Might even get people saying they enjoy F1 again.

Can only dream

[Supersam83]

p1stonhead said:

Would be interesting to know if a non compete would be enforceable when there are only 9 other places to work in the same industry and banning him from them would make him unemployed if he only wanted to do that same role.

I believe he would have a clause in his contract (a bit like a footballer's release clause) which would need to be paid to cancel any non-compete clauses.

Red Bull has probably set this as a high figure to deter teams trying to poach him away normally. Not that he would listen to offers while he was happy to stay at Red Bull.

But what has changed now is that Adrian Newey himself wants to leave Red Bull so Ferrari would be more willing to pay the clause and get their man.

I understand that staffing costs are not subject to the F1 cost cap so Ferrari won't have a problem writing a blank cheque. (Especially as HP have just given them rumoured to be around $90m a season for Title sponsorship!)

[Adrian W]

vaud said:

We would need see the contract and be a specialist employment lawyer.

Surely if you engage a company to do work for you and an employee leaves it would have little to do with an employment lawyer, if it is a fixed term contract the company would be in breach, so litigation on that basis if they have fallen out.

[Sandpit Steve]

Adrian W said:

vaud said:

We would need see the contract and be a specialist employment lawyer.

Surely if you engage a company to do work for you and an employee leaves it would have little to do with an employment lawyer, if it is a fixed term contract the company would be in breach, so litigation on that basis if they have fallen out.

Yes, that’s my thinking.

It could only be a civil commercial dispute between RBR Ltd an AN Ltd, for which the only sanction is financial. So if Ferrari want to employ Newey, RB can’t stop it.

Ferrari might also give AN a signon bonus and share options, to the value of any potential settlement between his old company and his old team.

[WestyCarl]

This is F1, if Newey was leaving RB at the end 2025 and going to Ferrari and RB said not for 12 months I suspect Liberty would be on the phone with RB working out some sort of agreement for an early release.

[isaldiri]

Gary C said:

It would though, be the crowing moment of AN's career if he went to Ferrari with Lewis and won the WDC/WCC, wouldn't it

If only it were to come true, what a fairy tail that would be.

Might even get people saying they enjoy F1 again.

Can only dream

Er.. why would a Ferrari championship whether with Hamilton or not be the 'crowning moment' of Newey's career? Given how incredibly successful he has been, the idea that suddenly a Ferrari championship tops all that has gone before is pretty risible imo.

As far as 'Might even get people saying they enjoy F1 again', you're mainly just saying if Hamilton smacks everyone in 2026 then people (ie you) will start enjoying F1 again.

[Forester1965]

Sandpit Steve said:

Yes, that’s my thinking.

It could only be a civil commercial dispute between RBR Ltd an AN Ltd, for which the only sanction is financial. So if Ferrari want to employ Newey, RB can’t stop it.

RB would seek to injunct Newey preventing him from breaching the restriction.

[Adrian W]

WestyCarl said:

This is F1, if Newey was leaving RB at the end 2025 and going to Ferrari and RB said not for 12 months I suspect Liberty would be on the phone with RB working out some sort of agreement for an early release.

On the basis of NDAs and confidentiality I don't think Liberty would dare

[Sim75]

Adrian W said:

I wonder how long his non comp is

I suspect he's using the Horner allegations as a way of tearing his contract up (so to speak)...

Edited by Sim75 on Friday 26th April 11:01