Apr.17 (GMM) Adrian Newey, arguably the most highly coveted designer in Formula 1 history, has been spotted in Italy.
Amid the ongoing Red Bull power struggle, Newey – as well as Dr Helmut Marko and even Max Verstappen – have all been linked with the exit door.
Recently, just as it was rumoured 65-year-old Newey had fallen out with Christian Horner, Newey’s wife Amanda ‘liked’ a social media post about her husband regretting ever working for Ferrari.
“Now’s your chance to tick off those regrets, Adrian,” the post that Mrs Newey ‘liked’ read.
Contractually, Newey is committed to Red Bull through 2026 – but the recent team turmoil may have changed the situation.
Indeed, it has been reported that Aston Martin recently made Newey an ‘astronomical’ offer, to which Marko responded mere days ago: “I don’t think it was the first offer he’s received and I don’t think it will be the last.”
Journalist Michael Schmidt now reports in Auto Motor und Sport: “Losing Adrian Newey would be just as great as losing Max Verstappen.
“And there is nothing he hates more than internal politics. Ever since things started going wrong at Red Bull, the competition has tasted blood.”
Newey has admitted that he had firm offers from Ferrari in the past, but he always turned them down because it would have meant uprooting his family to Italy.
“But at the end of his career, it would be the crowning achievement,” Schmidt explains. “And it seems that this time he is serious.
“Newey was recently spotted at the airport in Bologna.” The city is just a one-hour drive from Ferrari’s headquarters.
If Ferrari really does secure Newey, having already signed Lewis Hamilton for 2025 and beyond, F1 legend Gerhard Berger thinks a new Michael Schumacher-like era at Maranello could soon begin.
“With Hamilton instead of Michael,” the Austrian is quoted as saying.
