Formula 1 design expert Adrian Newei has expressed his remorse for not joining Ferrari or collaborating with Lewis Hamilton. However, leaving Red Bull could potentially offer him the opportunity to rectify this. Newey, who has created successful machines for numerous drivers, has never had the chance to work closely with F1’s most accomplished individuals. Although he competed against Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari in 1998 and 1999 while at McLaren, he left the team before Hamilton’s arrival. Despite this, the 65-year-old remained with Red Bull as Hamilton achieved unprecedented success, securing seven championships and a record-breaking 102 race wins. While Newey has previously declined offers from Ferrari, he admitted last September that he regrets not taking up their offers. When asked about his feelings towards rejecting Ferrari’s repeated pursuits on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, Newey responded, “On an emotional level, I suppose there is some regret. However, the opportunity to work with Fernando and Lewis would have been incredible, but circumstances prevented it from happening.”
However, the circumstances mentioned above could change in the near future as Newey has expressed his desire to depart from 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 became 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,” Newey explained. “The opportunity in ’93 was very tempting.”
“I went down, Jean Todt, the Team Principal, 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 further 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 see Carlos Ghosn, the former Renault CEO, Christian Horner, the Red Bull boss, Helmut Marko, the advisor, and myself to try to put pressure on him to increase the budget.”
“Ghosn’s response was, ‘Well, I have no interest in Formula 1. I’m only in it because my marketing people think I should be.’ That was a very disheartening situation to be in.”
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, the reports about Newey’s intention to leave this time are connected to his unease following an investigation into Horner’s behavior.