ADRIAN NEWEY TO FERRARI? FRESH DOUBT CAST OVER HISTORIC MOVE FOR F1 DESIGN GURU

Former Ferrari driver Ivan Capelli has warned the Scuderia must break the bank to have any hope of signing Adrian Newey if the F1 design legend decides to quit Red Bull.

With his cars claiming a combined total of more than 200 race wins – as well as 12 Drivers’ and 13 Constructors’ World Championships – Newey stands as the most decorated individual in the history of F1.

Ferrari to break the bank to lure Adrian Newey from Red Bull?

The 65-year-old has been a central figure behind Red Bull‘s success since arriving from McLaren in 2006, producing title-winning designs for the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, winner of 48 of the last 71 grands prix.

However, widespread reports earlier this week claimed Newey has signalled his intention to leave Red Bull, with the revelations coming amid rumours that he has received lucrative contract offers from Aston Martin and Ferrari.

A move to Ferrari – with whom he has been frequently linked over the course of his illustrious career – would see Newey form an F1 superteam with seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who announced in February that he will join the Prancing Horse on a multi-year contract from next season.

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Capelli worked with Newey at Leyton House, where the technical guru began his F1 career before achieving success with Williams and McLaren, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

And the Italian believes it is unlikely that Newey will join Ferrari unless the team make an offer too good to turn down.

He told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “To be honest, as far as I can tell of his thinking, he is unlikely to arrive in Italy unless there is a financial proposal that would put anyone to shame.

“By habit, by conceptualisation of work and mental organisation and the way he is used to it, I see him still very much rooted in England.”

 

And he pointed to Red Bull’s decision to pursue a new concept with this year’s RB20 car – a significant departure from its predecessor, which won all but one race in F1 2023 – as evidence of Newey’s genius.

He added: “He is the man with 40 years of experience, who even in the last rule change was able to interpret the rules immediately – finding solutions to what for others had become an Achilles heel, like porpoising, because he had experienced these situations 35 years ago with ground effect cars.

“It is a wealth of experience, knowledge and, beyond his personal dystonia, organisation of work that borders on perfection.

“What sets Adrian apart from everyone else is his ability to evaluate his work in a very aseptic manner.

“Last year he won 21 out of 22 races and said, well, this car has no more development and he’s going to do it again.

“And from a conceptual point of view he has created a completely new single-seater: let’s draw a line, blank sheet of paper and start again.”

Read next: Adrian Newey sabbatical? What we know so far about shock Red Bull exit rumours

2024-04-28T13:52:15Z dg43tfdfdgfd