Newey lured by $10m check
That's the news of a McLaren 'source', who told the respected Guardian newspaper that Ron Dennis' final offer stopped at around the $6m mark.
''Ron Dennis and chief executive Martin Whitmarsh did not feel such an investment could be justified,'' the newspaper wrote.
McLaren chairman Dennis, and 'F1 CEO' Whitmarsh, did not comment.
Just in case the more cynical Red Bull fans are worried that Newey might pull out of the deal, as he did when Jaguar achieved a similar coup in 2001, Christian Horner confirmed that McLaren's technical director had 'informed' Dennis this time.
A McLaren spokesperson, meanwhile, hinted that 'the pressures' of working for a truly top-line team may finally have got to the Briton.
''We have been aware … that Adrian was looking for a new challenge with a smaller team,'' the spokesperson added. ''The decision to leave McLaren was both amicable and mutual.''
Other sources inside the Woking based team report that McLaren is now sufficiently structured to make do without a star individual at the helm.
Red Bull, however, are delighted with their star recruitment, and Horner said Newey's motivation is not money.
Horner, the team's principal, beamed: ''Given the choice of Newey or Michael Schumacher, I'd go for Adrian every time. 'It's of that kind of magnitude.''