Adrian Newey, the much-coveted designer who is leaving Red Bull, will not make any announcement on his future until September at the earliest – and may delay a decision until the end of this year.
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Newey, 65, has been linked to Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, Williams and Aston Martin, since saying he wanted to leave Red Bull where he has won 13 world titles in nearly two decades of success with the team.
He has suggested he will continue to work in Formula One and may not make a final decision until later this year after easing off "to focus on final development and delivery of Red Bull's first hyper-car, the RB17", as revealed by Red Bull.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Newey explained: "I don’t know. At the moment, I’m just kind of still working on the RB17, our track car, and just taking some time off.
"Last week, actually, we took seven days and had lucky timing with the weather and went around the south coast with our dogs in an old Aston Martin DB6. Great fun!"
Asked if he had to decide his future by a deadline at the end of the year, he said: "That’s certainly the target. I’ll need to have my mind up."
Newey, widely regarded as a guru of ground effect technology, is expected to leave Red Bull finally in March next year, allowing him to take part in the development of a new car for the new 2026 regulations with whichever team he joins.
He was reported to have had a tour of Aston Martin’s factory last month and has been in negotiations with them, but any deal with the ambitious Silverstone team is unlikely to be announced before September to comply with his contract at Red Bull.
Aston Martin last week recruited the highly rated former Mercedes engine boss Andy Cowell to take over as group chief executive officer, replacing Martin Whitmarsh in October.