I said the above quote on April 26th.
Adrian Newey in Ferrari? It all depends on gardening
A few weeks ago the Arab oil giant Aramco had approached not only Adrian Newey but also other senior technical figures with the intention of attracting Max Verstappen soon , in the midst of an internal war that broke out in Red Bull after team principal Christian Horner had been placed under investigation by the company. In this eventful context to say the least, the owner of Aston Martin Lawrence Stroll was (and is) said to be willing to sell important shares of Aston Martin . However, Alonso's new contract as a driver and strong point of the team in the long term is a significant response that the attempt to take the world champion for now did not have the conditions to succeed, despite the Dutchman's respect for Honda which is will join the Lagonda team officially in 2026 but is in fact already at the table with the Silverstone technicians while developing the new power unit. Verstappen is continuing to win quite clearly but that doesn't mean that things are calmer at Red Bull, as they appear on the surface.
Mercedes, in the words of Toto Wolff , seems to have thought of a strategy similar to the Arab one but more domineering and aggressive. The most successful team of the hybrid era is not understanding what happens to ground effect cars , in fundamentals, as the same problems are not being solved. The official explanation is that it is a correlation problem: on the track things go differently than in the tunnel and not in a positive way. However, it also seems like something that has to do with a technical, methodological and ideational process, to be restructured with visions foreign to the usual processes. The hiring of Simone Resta, Allison's trusted man in his time at Ferrari, and Enrico Sampō, team leader of the Maranello simulation group, must be seen in this light. It is very clear that for Toto Wolff to take advantage of the cracks in Red Bull and try to take Verstappen perhaps with Newey would represent a huge response to the loss of Hamilton and the bad results. At the same time it is not an easy undertaking, and one wonders what the interaction with one of the best technical profiles such as James Allison would be. It is known that the Austrian boss does not have to be asked if he can destabilize the apparatus of the number one enemy Christian Horner, however failing both of these announced attempts could turn into the classic boomerang, a refusal, a downsizing in terms of appeal. This is why it is not difficult to believe that Mercedes is putting everything on the table to convince the Verstappen clan. Nonetheless, it must be technically much more convincing than today. In the medium term, another story can begin from 2026, thanks to the new era of Power units.
Newey in Ferrari would be great news as long as it happens quickly and not blindly
Adrian Newey's exit from Red Bull should be clarified quickly and regulated, if the most famous engineer in F1 does not want to stay in Milton Keynes, this essentially depends on the climate and should not be forgotten. And it is very possible that he does not have any already solid agreement with the competition. If he were to be released only in 2027 , taking into account the necessary adaptation and natural insertion to be able to make an impact, he cannot so easily fit into the plans of Ferrari or Mercedes . When there are three seasons to build and a technical hierarchy that could be seen as transitional, where some could feel precarious. Rather harmful things that we saw well in Maranello in the years of the post-Ross Brawn era, especially among Italian and foreign currents. Something to protect yourself from. If, however, Newey were available in a maximum of 12 months then he could be a precious reinforcement already for the 678 model , a brain from which to take all the genius and experience... Maranello would have offered a lot, over 50% more than its current high engagement and broad freedom of action.
The retirement hypothesis should not be underestimated, in any case Newey is a surprising man
The F1 guru showed his courageous and surprising streak when he left Woking. But at present, realistically, it is not wrong to ask whether Adrian Newey wants to stop and then take on a new challenge , such as designing the 2026 cars. And if he wants to do so, whether he has an interest in clashing with the structure that he himself created and which for a while it has been in the hands of Waché, who was also strongly courted, even before him. In short, can the designer have the same impact as a part-time super consultant in a consolidated pyramid with the same success as in the past? Or in the end, after all, he will choose to stay in the beloved English countryside, reconnecting with some of his students... I don't think there is any doubt that Horner and Red Bull Racing owe a debt of gratitude to Newey, when he left McLaren to throw himself into a lawsuit to say the least full of unknowns, leading it to technical success in 2010 with Vettel. Maybe the time has come to please him, whatever he wants to do, unless he decides to retire from F1 activities. A former McLaren driver once said of Newey: "if you want a close championship you have to give him a lot of money and make him stay at home!".
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