Red Bull will lose its chief technical officer by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Max Verstappen cannot rule out the impact Adrian Newey's departure has had on Red Bull's dramatic drop in form.
Newey announced his exit as Red Bull chief technical officer earlier this year and will be free to work for another team ahead of the 2026 rules reset with Ferrari and Aston Martin keen to secure his services.
Red Bull and Verstappen won seven of the first 10 races of the season, but have failed to win any of the five events since the Spanish GP, with the RB20 overhauled as the fastest car by McLaren's MCL38.
The reigning champions find themselves trying to fend off McLaren's challenge with Verstappen now 70 points clear of Lando Norris and the team 30 ahead of the Woking concern in the constructors'.
When asked if the drop in form of the RB20 had anything to do with Newey's exit, Verstappen was unable to totally dismiss the theory.
"Normally not," said Verstappen, speaking to media including RacingNews365. "It is just since he announced that he was leaving it has been more difficult.
"It shouldn't matter if someone is, say, leaving on the spot and so immediately the performance drops because the car has always been the same.
"So yeah, normally [it wouldn't have an impact]."
When pressed by RacingNews365 if he had contact with Newey, Verstappen confirmed he did but that asking Newey about the RB20 problems would be "unfair."
"Well I mean over the last few weeks not so much, and he has moved office as well," he added.
"But whenever I do see him, we have a good relationship, so that has never been a problem. It would be a bit unfair to [ask him about the problems with the car], but like I said, normally not, but it can be."
