Red Bull Racing boss, Christian Horner, has expressed his delight at having secured the services of Adrian Newey, designer of Formula One championship winning cars for both WilliamsF1 and McLaren.

"It's a massive recruitment for us," he told Reuters, adding: "Given the choice of Adrian Newey or Michael Schumacher, I'd go for Adrian every time. It's of that kind of magnitude.

"I think it sends out exactly the right message," he continued, "in that we are totally serious about what we want to do and what we want to achieve."

Ironically, Newey's move to Red Bull Racing is something of a 'mission accomplished', the Englishman having previously come close to joining Jaguar Racing, which was bought by Red Bull at the end of 2004, following Ford's decision to withdraw from Formula One.

"Adrian is comfortable with his decision," said Horner. "I am not familiar with the full detail of what happened last time around but he has informed McLaren and he is a free agent as of the end of January. His motivation wasn't money or fiscal, his motivation was to take on a new challenge within a smaller team environment.

"Adrian and I have spoken on and off throughout the season," Horner admitted, "and it has really accelerated since the last race. He was keen to take on a new challenge and I'm delighted that we managed to get him to join us."

Newey will assist with the team's 2006 preparations before concentrating on the design of the Austrian outfit's 2007 car.

"We need to make a step forward next year," admitted Horner. "That progression has to be focused on getting into the top six in the constructors', ideally the top five. Then in 2007 the real dividend and impact of Adrian's appointment will start to be seen."