Formula 1 design specialist Adrian Newey expressed remorse for not joining Ferrari or collaborating with Lewis Hamilton. However, leaving Red Bull could potentially offer him the opportunity to correct this. Newey, who has created successful machines for several drivers, never had the chance to work closely with the most talented individuals in F1. Although he competed against Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari in 1998 and 1999 while at McLaren, he left the team before Hamilton arrived. Despite this, the 65-year-old Brit remained at Red Bull as Hamilton achieved unprecedented success, winning seven championships and a record 102 race victories. Although Newey had previously turned down offers from Ferrari, he admitted last September that he regrets not accepting their proposals. When asked about his feelings regarding rejecting Ferrari’s repeated advances on the F1 Beyond the Grid podcast, Newey replied: “On an emotional level, I suppose there is some regret. However, the opportunity to work with Fernando and Lewis would have been amazing, but circumstances prevented it from happening.”
However, the aforementioned circumstances may change in the near future, as Newey has expressed his desire to leave Red Bull and Hamilton has made the decision to join Ferrari starting next season.
Newey came very close to making a sensational move to Ferrari in 2014, when he was disillusioned with Renault’s weak and unreliable power unit.
“In my days in IndyCar, Ferrari made an approach, which may not count, and then in ’93 and famously in 2014,” explained Newey. “The opportunity in ’93 was very tempting.”
“I went there, Jean Todt, the team boss, had just started. I remember him discussing whether or not to hire Michael Schumacher. Do you think that was a good idea?” he added.
Newey also explained: “My discussions with Ferrari in 2014 were purely driven by frustration. I really didn’t want to leave, but we were in a position where Renault had not produced a competitive turbo hybrid engine.”
“In the first year, it’s understandable, new rules and mistakes happen. But we went to talk to Carlos Ghosn, the former CEO of Renault, Christian Horner, Red Bull boss, Helmut Marko, the advisor, and myself to try to pressure him to increase the budget.”
“Ghosn’s response was: ‘Well, I have no interest in Formula 1. I’m only here because my marketing team thinks I should be.’ It was a very disheartening situation.”
Horner later revealed that a last-minute conversation with Newey prevented him from leaving for Ferrari. Ferrari has been struggling to win an F1 championship since 2008.
However, reports about Newey’s intention to leave this time are related to his unease after an investigation into Horner’s behavior.
