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Adrian Newey to Ferrari: When Lewis Hamilton Drove a Adrian Newey-Designed Car

Somin Bhattacharjee
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Adrian Newey to Ferrari: When Lewis Hamilton Drove a Adrian Newey-Designed Car

Ever since Lewis Hamilton made his move to Ferrari in 2025 public, there have been rumors of some leading figures joining him at the Maranello-based outfit. One of them is Adrian Newey, who has never worked with Hamilton before. However, there was a brief crossover between the two back in 2004, when Hamilton drove a car designed by the man billed as F1’s ‘aero-god’.

In 2004, Hamilton was part of McLaren’s young driver’s academy. It was also Adrian Newey’s penultimate year for the Woking-based squad before he moved to Red Bull. While they never directly worked together, Hamilton did drive the car designed by Newey – in a test.

In December of 2004, he took behind the wheel of the MP4-19, as revealed in a post on Reddit. Newey, the technical director of McLaren was one of the main brains behind the car that Hamilton drove that evening. The MP4-19 was driven by David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen in 2004, as McLaren finished fifth in the constructors’ championship.

It would take some time before Hamilton would finally make his long-awaited F1 debut. In 2007, three years after driving the Newey-designed challenger, he joined Fernando Alonso at McLaren. By then, Newey had already moved to Red Bull and was in the process of creating history with the Milton-Keynes-based outfit.

Will Adrian Newey move to Ferrari and join Lewis Hamilton?

Adrian Newey, despite being one of F1’s best-ever engineers, has not worked with Hamilton (arguably F1’s best driver of all time) or Ferrari (F1’s most successful team of all time). Now that Hamilton is moving to Ferrari in 2025, Newey has an opportunity to check both things off his list.

As of now, it is not clear whether Newey will join Ferrari or not. However, the latest rumors suggest that he will stay put at Red Bull. This comes even though internal politics at Red Bull are tarnishing the team’s image.

The never-ending Christian Horner saga isn’t doing anyone any favors. Figures like Max Verstappen and Newey are reportedly unhappy with the negative spotlight on the team. If Newey, who has played a huge role in Red Bull’s dominance, decides to leave, it will be a huge loss for them. For Ferrari and Hamilton, however, it will be a huge gain.

Post Edited By:Aishwary Gaonkar

About the author

Somin Bhattacharjee

Somin Bhattacharjee

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Basketball Editor Somin Bhattacharjee first discovered the game during the 2014 FIBA World Cup. Not long after, he turned to the NBA and found himself drawn to the Golden State Warriors — right at the start of Stephen Curry’s rise. Over time, the admiration turned into full-blown support for the team, one that continues even as the Curry era approaches its twilight. A true hoophead, Somin also follows EuroLeague basketball closely and enjoys exploring the game beyond the NBA. Though holding a bachelor's degree in marketing, Somin discovered his true calling in writing. Since 2021, he has penned over 3,000 articles for TheSportsRush, covering everything from breaking news to sharp opinion pieces and detailed exclusives. He thrives on writing about in-game moments and the reactions that make basketball a uniquely emotional sport. Beyond basketball, Somin plays different sports including soccer and remains a passionate fan of Spanish football giants Real Madrid

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