Ever since Adrian Newey confirmed his departure from Red Bull, he has been on the top of the hiring shortlist for several Formula 1 teams. And many reports had claimed that Aston Martin was supposedly offering him $100 million.
However, F1 presenter and expert Lawrence Barretto has recently dismissed such claims. While Barretto acknowledges that Lawrence Stroll, the owner of the Aston Martin F1 team, is keen on hiring Newey, he thinks of the Canadian as too good of a businessman to essentially write blank checks for hiring one person.
In a recent episode of ‘Nailing The Apex’ podcast, Barretto shared his thoughts on Aston Martin’s prospects of hiring Newey and how Stroll would be willing to give him everything he needs to help the team get to the front of the grid. Barretto noted,
“I think there could be a world where he [Lawrence Stroll] can say to Adrian, ‘Look, come here, tell me what you want okay, I think I can do all of that. Yes, you can have this, yes you can have that.’ I honestly think there is a world where that is the case now.”
However, despite Stroll’s willingness to offer Newey everything he needs, Barretto still doesn’t see the Briton joining the Silverstone-based team in the near future. Barretto made it clear that Stroll is a smart businessman and would not go as far as offering Newey a “blank check” to convince the Briton to join his side.
Barretto is uncertain if Newey wants to work in Formula 1 anymore
Newey has had a very long and successful career in Formula 1. Hence, Barretto thinks that the legendary British aerodynamicist would rather want to enjoy his life on the newly built Oyster 855 Yatch after working so hard for his entire life.
Adrian Newey OBE, chief technical officer of Formula One’s Red Bull Racing team, has chosen British shipyard Oyster to build his new sailing yacht.
Get the full story here: https://t.co/H3hu1VGppY pic.twitter.com/Ph9pwDY6sl
— BOAT International (@boatint) November 22, 2023
Barretto also explained that even if Newey joined Aston Martin in 2025, it would take at least four or five years for his work to reflect on the performance of the team, and he doesn’t believe that Lawrence Stroll has that kind of patience to see his team excel.
“I think if you want to turn Aston Martin around, it’s going to take some time. And look don’t panic, Lawrence Stoll, I’m not saying it’s going to take forever. But I’m saying it’s going to take, you know, four or five years to really kind of start seeing signs of Adrian coming through,” he added.
