Red Bull technical guru Adrian Newey has blasted Formula 1 rule makers for creating a sport that it is "too restrictive".

The 55-year-old is to step back from designing race cars, and has been heavily linked with a bid for a British team to win the Americas Cup, along with Sir Ben Ainslie.

While new challenges are on the horizon, Newey admitted that the regulation changes have contributed to his decision.

He told Motor Sport Magazine: "There have been a whole host of factors playing their parts in my decision to leave F1, and a lot of mixed emotions. I felt it was time to challenge myself in something different and that's certainly a factor.

"But at the same time I do think the regs have become too restrictive. We're in danger, chassis-wise, of becoming GP1. Everybody's converging on cars that look more and more similar."

Newey won his first constructors' title with Williams in 1992.