With the news of Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari in 2025, a host of rumors followed. One such speculation suggested that car design genius Adrian Newey will also be moving to Ferrari. For many, the primary reason behind Newey’s rumored move was Hamilton’s affiliation with the Italian outfit. However, Sky Sports‘ Ted Kravitz believes Ferrari’s driver lineup has nothing to do with Newey’s choices. Instead, other factors contribute to the decision.
“I think it’s more factors like, where he lives, communication with the team, and potential freedoms for him to do his work are more important to Adrian [Newey] than designing a car for Lewis [Hamilton] or Max [Verstappen], or whoever.”
Kravitz claimed that Newey has had numerous offers to join Ferrari in the past. However, the British engineer always rejected the advances, owing to the logistics of the move. Furthermore, Red Bull will try their best to ensure Newey stays with them, given the 65-year-old’s influence on the team. He has been with the team since 2006 and has played a crucial part in their enjoying two championship-winning dominant eras. If it wasn’t for the genius of Newey, many experts believe Red Bull would never be a champion team in F1.
So far in his career, Newey has designed 12 championship-winning cars. Seven of these cars came during his tenure at Red Bull, starting from the 2010-spec RB6. In 2023, Newey designed what was arguably his greatest creation. The RB19 was an unstoppable force that lost just one race throughout the year. As such, should the Briton decide to leave, it might be a huge hit for Red Bull. With regulations changing in 2026, things would get even more difficult for the Milton Keynes-based outfit since people other than Newey rarely understand regulations better than him.
Lewis Hamilton told to focus only on Adrian Newey
When Hamilton’s move to Ferrari became official, some people thought he would also want to bring Peter Bonnington with him to Italy. However, contractual restrictions claiming Hamilton cannot influence any other person to leave with him means Bonnington will likely stay at Mercedes. Given the same, F1 expert Karun Chandhok advised Hamilton to look past Bonnington and pursue Newey instead.
Per Chandhok, bringing Newey to Ferrari would be a much more ideal scenario for Hamilton. The Briton is searching for world championship number eight, and time is running out. Given Newey’s expertise in car designing and the added aid of Ferrari engineers, Hamilton should focus on him. Under the new regulations, Newey could hand Ferrari a car that would turn their fate around. Charles Leclerc is already doing a great job with the Ferrari car, as he secured a front-row qualifying position in the last five races of 2023. Pair that with the genius of Newey and Ferrari might strike gold.
