Last week, the F1 world was rocked by the news that renowned engineer Adrian Newey was set to leave Red Bull after the season. Then they immediately started talking about the fact that the Briton would not be able to join another championship team soon, because engineers have a “cooling off period” of 6 to 18 months.
However, former Ferrari engineer Ernest Knoors believes that A. Newey’s situation may be somewhat different, as his status allows him to dictate the terms himself.
“It is certainly not easy to avoid a clause in the contract that would not provide for forced leave. If you are not a very senior engineer, as I was, then you have little chance to come forward and say that you do not agree with such a clause in the contract. So, for people who are not very influential, this is a limited opportunity.
But for top engineers like Newey, it can be quite different. I can certainly imagine that when signing with Red Bull, he could have made it clear that he did not agree with the long holiday clause. I think he really wants to decide for himself when he can start working. Also, this point can always be challenged, which I did in my case.
This is a strange term in employment contracts in general. In fact, it just prevents people from doing their jobs. In addition, there are all kinds of general rules, including European law, according to which this clause of the contract can easily be turned into a lawsuit against the team”, said E. Knoors.
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