Jeremy Clarkson is being hailed for breaking the news that Adrian Newey was leaving Red Bull for Aston Martin before anyone else had the story.
Newey is set to be officially announced by Aston Martin on Tuesday after signing a five-year contract worth £30million per year. He will leave his role as Red Bull’s chief technical officer in the first quarter of 2025 before making the switch to their rivals in what is a serious coup for Aston Martin, who have beaten competition from Ferrari for his services.
The 65-year-old was tempted to join by their billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll, who revealed they had been “talking not only for months but actually for years”. Newey’s exit from Red Bull has been a long time coming, but his destination after leaving was still up in the air over the summer.
However, there was one person who was in the know: Clarkson. The former Top Gear presenter was in attendance at the British Grand Prix in early July – when he couldn’t help but drop a piece of gossip.
Speaking to a Viaplay reporter from the Netherlands on the grid – with Newey standing just behind him – Clarkson said: “Want an exclusive? Where are you from? I know Adrian Newey is house hunting in Oxfordshire, not Maranello.”
The slightly bemused reporter then repeated: “Oxfordshire, not Maranello. Well, that is the biggest news, thank you.” The inference being that Newey was staying in the UK, rather than heading to join Ferrari in Italy.
Now that the news is all but confirmed, F1 fans have heralded Clarkson for his journalistic endeavours. A video of the clip has resurfaced and gone viral on Twitter, picking up 1.5m views. The caption to the video reads: “Can we just appreciate that Jeremy Clarkson was the first one to break the news about Newey going to Aston Martin, a few months ago?”
Clarkson himself lives in Oxfordshire, where he runs an ever-growing empire based around his award-winning documentary Clarkson’s Farm, so his sources were always likely to be good. He also knows Newey personally because they both went to Repton School as youngsters.
While Aston Martin’s base is at Silverstone, in Northamptonshire, it is very plausible that Newey would base himself in the famous Cotswolds region in neighbouring Oxfordshire and make the short commute. Newey won’t be able to influence things at Aston Martin until the 2026 season, but Stroll is delighted to get him on board soon.
"Adrian and I have been talking not only for months but actually for years," Stroll said recently. "Adrian is clearly the most talented and gifted individual in Formula 1, based on his track record and history. So I'd be very excited for Adrian to join our team, as I think every other Formula 1 team on the grid would feel exactly the same."
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