It has been suggested that Adrian Newey will reject Ferrari in favour of a move to Aston Martin amid rumours that he will leave Red Bull in the near future.
With over two hundred wins, thirteen drivers’ world championships and 12 constructors’ championships to his name, Newey is the most decorated person in F1 history.
Additional information through Pablo Hidalgo
After productive stints at Williams and McLaren, Newey has been a central figure in Red Bull’s good fortunes since joining the team in 2006, designing winning cars for drivers such as Sebastian Vettel and reigning world champion Max Verstappen.
However, Newey’s long career has come under scrutiny after reports claimed last week that he had signaled his intention to leave the team.
The claims come amid the ongoing off-track saga at Red Bull, with rumours in recent weeks indicating that Newey has secured contract offers from Aston Martin and Ferrari.
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In response to the speculation, a Red Bull spokesperson told PlanetF1. com: “Adrian has a contract at least until the end of 2025 and we don’t know if he will join the team. “
In his appearance on Motorsport’s Italia YouTube channel, legendary technical analyst Giorgio Piola claimed that Newey most likely signed up for the British Aston Martin team.
And despite the prospect of forming an F1 superteam at Ferrari alongside seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, Piola believes a move to Maranello would be “problematic” for an individual with Newey’s mindset.
He said: “Knowing Adrian Newey, I think I would prefer Aston Martin [rather than Ferrari], because I would be in a much more comfortable atmosphere.
“And he’s close to where he works now, and let’s not forget he’s a guy who gets lost easily!They had to pick it up at Red Bull when they gave it up for lost before GPS existed.
“His arrival in Italy would be a bit problematic.
“He knows there’s also going to be high expectations and a lot of pressure, so it’s not an ideal environment for his mentality.
“I think it would be a great replacement [for what he’s used to].
“However, it would also be very ambitious because it could bring good luck back to Ferrari. It’s a result that would be magical for everyone, both the drivers and the technicians. “
“But in the end it would be calmer and more suitable for Aston Martin.
“And even though I hate the casino and have never gambled in my life, if I had to gamble, I’d bet he’d move to Aston Martin. “
Piola said Newey hates nothing more than internal politics within a team and said a “horrific” scenario at Red Bull could lead to the 65-year-old’s departure.
And he pointed to a lack of compatibility between Newey and Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache, who has been heavily scrutinized by team principal Christian Horner in recent times.
When Horner claimed in January that Red Bull’s technical team, led by Wache, “doesn’t depend on Adrian”, Newey’s wife Amanda responded on Twitter, calling Horner’s comments “rubbish”.
Piola said, “Newey has more equipment than any synthetic intelligence.
“His departure is due to non-public reasons – especially in terms of relationships with the team, especially after everything he’s been through – which I find awful.
“I have to say that I haven’t studied the subject much because it’s more like parlor gossip that doesn’t interest me, but it creates great disorders within the team and there is a growing unease among everyone.
“Newey is a genius but also a very sensitive person, so he wants a quiet [work] environment around him. It is conceivable that he is no longer in this ideal state.
“And also within the Newey-Wache duo there can be things that don’t fit. However, I don’t think it’s a solution or a technical decision.
“If something happens, we can’t say at the moment, but it will be a matter of internal reasons, of not public relations between the team members. “
Piola’s comments come after a clip resurfaced of Newey signalling his affection for Red Bull in December 2023, remarking that it would be like “abandoning his family” leaving the team at this level of his career.
And he revealed that he had “come close” to joining Ferrari on three occasions throughout his illustrious career, admitting his affection for the prominent Scuderia.
Appearing on the Formula For Success podcast, he said: “Ferrari is this magical logo that, in all honesty, probably everyone in motorsport is fascinated and tempted to sign up if given the chance.
“I’ve been approached, and I’ve been close, 3 times. One of them in IndyCars a long time ago.
“It’s an amazing brand. There’s all this mystique in it. In fact, it’s the Italian national team, with all the things that go along with it.
“The problem is that if you don’t do a wonderful job, you’re bound to be reprimanded and torn apart. Of course, if you do a smart job, then you’re a national hero. So that brings with it all its own pressures. “
“But I have to try to remove the hobby aspect and approach it from an engineering perspective.
“I’ve enjoyed the groups I’ve worked for and, of course, Red Bull because it’s a team I’ve been a component of, more or less, from the beginning.
“It’s a team where I’ve played a pivotal role in developing the engineering side of the team, so it’s a team I’m comfortable with. We all know how we work.
“I guess I have to replace now; I’m not saying I’ll never replace it because you never say that; However, it would be like abandoning your family, because that’s what they’ve become. “
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