Newey ready to rethink future in F1

Newey could be on the verge of one of his most successful seasons for years, with his new RB5 having shone in early testing, but he has conceded that he is already evaluating an F1 exit in the next few years.

Although excited about the raft of regulation changes that were introduced for this year, Newey feels that the challenge will be less in future seasons because the rules are now so tight.

Speaking exclusively to this week's Autosport, Newey said: "I would definitely like to step back in the not-too-distance future. The rules are becoming more and more restrictive.

"While it has been exciting to have such a big regulation change for this year, ultimately those regulations are more restrictive than the one's we've just come away from."

Newey has said if he chooses to pursue opportunities elsewhere, he would still like to retain some links with F1.

"Maybe I'd still be involved as a consultant, but that would have to be on the terms of the team," he said. "It has to be that the engineers at the team would want me to be a consultant, otherwise it just wouldn't work."

Newey added that "within two or three years it will definitely" be time to look elsewhere.

The feelings about restrictive regulations in F1 have been echoed by FIA president Max Mosley, who believes that it has been a mistake to make the sport's rules so tight.

"It's a fault with the regulations," explained Mosley. "They have constricted the areas where they can work to keep speeds and costs under control to the point where you get the best returns by endlessly refining every single component of the car."

He added: "People like (Colin) Chapman, (John) Cooper or (Keith) Duckworth would be lost in modern F1. We have this culture of minimal innovation and endless refinement."