There is speculation the schism at Red Bull Racing between the Austrian half of the global drinks company and its original Thai creators may have something to do with Newey’s decision.
You can’t forget the Christian Horner debacle and the spat Jos Verstappen [champion Max’s dad] has with just about everyone.
Maybe Newey just wants a quiet place to go build fast race cars and not be surrounded by people throwing toys out of their sand pits.
The formidable Max Verstappen, whose confidence knows no bounds, is quite right when he told formula1.com: “It’s important to always have the quickest car, because that makes it a lot easier to think about what is right.
“We have a really strong group of people that maybe aren’t talked enough about in the press in general.
“That’s fine, they know what they have to do, they know what they are worth to the team, and they know how important they have been for the current success as well with the car. We just keep on working.”
Newey was more circumspect in his low-key statement.
“For almost two decades, it has been my great honour to have played a key role in Red Bull Racing’s progress from upstart newcomer to multiple title-winning team,” Newey said.
“However, I feel now is an opportune moment to hand that baton over to others and to seek new challenges for myself.”
From a New Zealand perspective, the rumour mill will go into hyperdrive if there is a continuation of Daniel Ricciardo’s run of bad luck or, as some would have it, bad form.
The Australian has yet to score any points this season and, if that continues, speculation around his future will swirl - especially with the proven talent of 22-year-old Kiwi Liam Lawson awaiting his chance.
On top of that, you’ve got the Lance Stroll “I did nothing wrong” when punting Ricciardo from behind at the Chinese Grand Prix. That’s a potential hot spot during the race.
Despite a lack of good results for the Aussie this season, RB boss Laurent Mekies has given Ricciardo a big vote of confidence.
That old chestnut: The chairman and board have the utmost confidence in the manager.
As for the race itself, it’s hard to see anything other than a Verstappen win while the rest of the field tries to work out who’s going to be first loser.
On the subject of the Dutchman’s dominance this year, it was a strange aspect of the last race’s television coverage that much of it did not feature Verstappen.
I’ve never seen that before, where a producer concentrates more on the minor places rather than the person out front.
Miami will also be important for Alpine, who are even worse than Haas, Williams and Sauber, and that’s saying something.
If the Renault-backed outfit don’t show improvement, the team might go on the sales block.
Funnily enough, Michael Andretti is looking into getting on the F1 grid.
Williams will have to start walking the walk and stop talking, and give their drivers a decent car to engage in a midfield battle, while the Ferrari-McLaren showdown might just provide some entertainment.
Verstappen leads the series on 110 points, having won four of the first five races, followed by Sergio Perez (85) and Charles Leclerc (76).
