On Wednesday, Red Bull announced that Newey will leave the team in 2025. He’s been linked with a move to Ferrari or Aston Martin. Perez believes wherever Newey goes next, he’ll make a quick and positive impact.
“Adrian, with the experience he has, he has contributed a lot to the Red Bull philosophy so I assume he will cause an immediate impact wherever he goes or whatever he does,” Perez said.
“He is a very clever guy and a very hard worker. Working with Adrian, he is much more than a designer, he can influence even strategies, set-up, he could have that influence on a race weekend.
“To have him around on race weekends was great. He is a very strong individual and wherever he goes he will cause an immediate impact. But it is a whole group of people that he will require to have around him as well.”
Although Perez is disappointed about Newey leaving Red Bull, he believes the team will remain strong without him.
“It is obviously not ideal, someone like Adrian [leaving], he has been tremendous to our team, to our organization, and he is also a very good friend of mine from all the time we’ve spent together,” Perez explained.
“But, at the end of the day, there are times in life when you spend 20 years at Red Bull I think he probably wants to do something else and that is fair.
“I think Red Bull is in a great place and it has a very strong organization with Pierre [Wache – technical director], Enrico [Balbo – head of aerodynamics], and Ben [Waterhouse – head of performance engineering]. I think the whole Aero group is very strong and I think we are looking forward to the future.
“You’ve seen in the past at these big teams, big names when they leave they will always exist, it isn’t down to one single individual. It is a whole organization and I think Christian [Horner] has done a great job in preparing for the next generation of what is going to happen at Red Bull.”
Perez doesn’t think Newey’s departure will lead to more people leaving Red Bull.
“I don’t think so,” Perez replied when asked if he was worried about more team members leaving Red Bull.
“I think everyone is fully committed to the team and we are having a tremendous season once again and the future looks bright at the team.
“I think it is normal that you have this sort of movement, losing some people, but I think the organization remains really strong and I don’t see any more changes ahead in that regard.”
