As soon as Red Bull announced Adrian Newey’s departure, several teams on the grid entered the race for his signature. Eventually, he would end up signing for Aston Martin, but Craig Slater revealed that Ferrari was the one who pushed the hardest.
Williams, McLaren, Mercedes — all these teams were interested in bringing the legendary aerodynamicist on board. However, they were not ready to break the bank like Ferrari was.
“The only one that showed genuine and consistent urgency to pursue him was this one [Ferrari],” said Slater on the Sky Sports F1 podcast. “I have to say. The rest were, yes, we’d like him. But we’re not prepared to pay the earth.”
Why Adrian Newey choose not to go to Ferrari pic.twitter.com/wtIqNmXTYS
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 10, 2024
According to the F1 expert, Ferrari was willing to do whatever it took to bring Newey on board. Had the Maranello-based team succeeded, it could have potentially formed a dream team, with seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton set to join in 2025
Instead, Aston Martin swooped in and made an offer Newey couldn’t refuse. In addition to earning $40 million a year, he was granted shares in the team, giving him the title of Managing Technical Partner.
Although Newey had previously expressed a desire to work for Ferrari, the Aston Martin offer ultimately put an end to that dream.
End of Hamilton-Newey dream
The majority of the F1 community hoped for Newey to move to Ferrari, not only because it’s an iconic team, but also due to the potential partnership with Hamilton. Both had expressed interest in working together someday, sharing the ambition to build a title-winning project.
Unfortunately, given the ages of both Newey and Hamilton (39), this dream pairing is unlikely to materialize.
Thankfully for Newey, Hamilton wasn’t the only World champion he had hoped to work with. Fernando Alonso, the other ‘chosen one,’ is still performing at a high level with Aston Martin and has a contract until 2026. After Newey’s move to the Silverstone-based team became official on Wednesday, he reflected on nearly missing the opportunity to work with Alonso in the past.
“We came so close to him joining Red Bull in 2008 for the 2009 season,” Newey said. “But unfortunately, it didn’t quite happen. You know, he’s a legend of the sport, so I’m very much looking forward to working with him.”
