Lewis Hamilton has been offered the chance to finish his career at Ferrari with the greatest car designer in history, after Adrian Newey plunged Red Bull into further chaos by apparently leaving the scandal-stricken team.

It remains unclear whether Newey, 65, will join Ferrari, the team Hamilton will move to from Mercedes next year.

But despite desperate moves at Red Bull as dusk fell to keep hold of Newey, the game there appears to be up — a massive blow to team principal Christian Horner as he clings to his job after accusations of sending sexually explicit messages to a female member of staff.

Mail Sport understands Newey is disillusioned with the political upheaval at Red Bull. There is a power-play taking place behind the scandal that has convulsed the team in recent months.

It is also believed, though unconfirmed, that Newey and his wife Amanda have been looking to move to Italy.

Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey has reportedly told the team that he wants to leave

It comes with the team’s season overshadowed by allegations made towards Christian Horner

If Newey jumped ship to Ferrari, he would link up with Lewis Hamilton for the 2025 season

Red Bull insist Newey is ‘under contract to the end of 2025’.

Newey is known as one of the greatest designers in Formula 1 history and holds the brains behind 13 World Championship titles – six constructors’ crowns and seven for drivers.

Horner was accused of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ by a female employee ahead of the 2024 season.

An internal investigation cleared him of ‘coercive behaviour’ but a bombshell email the next day purported to throw fresh light on the situation.

A day after the internal investigation cleared him, hundreds of messages allegedly from Horner – some sexual – were spilled to the media and F1 powerhouses, but Red Bull affirmed he would not be sacked and his accuser was suspended.

The bombshell email contained 79 documents, including hundreds of messages, many of them of a sexual nature.

The anonymous sender copied in leading people in the sport, such as FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali, as well as accredited media gathered in Bahrain for the scandal-ridden opening race of the season.

His accuser has since appealed the verdict of the investigation which exonerated him.

Newey has been with Red Bull since 2006 and helped them to win 13 titles with his expert designing skills

Horner – pictured with his wife, Geri Halliwell, a former Spice Girl – was accused of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ by a female employee but cleared by an internal investigation

As of March, Newey was reportedly in ‘advanced talks’ to join Ferrari. He is also understood to have an offer from Aston Martin, the team of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

Before joining Red Bull, he had success with both Williams and McLaren.

In total, Newey-designed cars have won twelve constructors’ and thirteen drivers’ championships.