Aston Martin or Ferrari? Adrian Newey’s next move predicted amid Red Bull exit rumours
Adrian Newey and the logos of Aston Martin and Ferrari
Adrian Newey has been tipped to reject Ferrari in favour of a move to Aston Martin amid rumours that he is poised to leave Red Bull in the near future.
With more than 200 race wins, 13 Drivers’ and 12 Constructors’ World Championships to his name, Newey stands as the most decorated individual in F1 history.
Adrian Newey tipped to pick Aston Martin over Ferrari if Red Bull exit materialises
Additional reporting by Pablo Hidalgo
After productive spells with Williams and McLaren, Newey has been a central figure behind Red Bull’s success since arriving at the team in 2006, designing title-winning cars for the likes of Sebastian Vettel and reigning World Champion Max Verstappen.
However, Newey’s future has come under scrutiny after multiple reports last week claimed he has signalled his intention to leave the team.
The claims come amid the ongoing off-track saga at Red Bull, with rumours over recent weeks indicating Newey has received contract offers from Aston Martin and Ferrari.
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Responding to the speculation, a Red Bull spokesperson told PlanetF1.com: “Adrian is contracted until at least the end of 2025 and we are unaware of him joining any other team.”
Appearing on the Motorsport’s Italia YouTube channel, the legendary technical analyst Giorgio Piola has claimed Newey is more likely to join the British-based Aston Martin team.
And despite the prospect of him forming an F1 superteam at Ferrari alongside seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, Piola reckons a move to Maranello would be “problematic” for an individual of Newey’s mentality.
He said: “Knowing Adrian Newey, I think he would choose Aston Martin [over Ferrari], because he would be in a much more relaxed climate.
“And it’s close to where he works now – and let’s remember he’s a man who gets lost easily! They had to go and find him from Red Bull sometimes when he got lost before GPS existed.
“His arrival in Italy I would see it as a bit more problematic.
“He knows there would also be high expectations and a lot of pressure, so it’s not an atmosphere that is perfectly ideal for his mentality.
“I think it would be a big change [from what he is used to].
“However, it would also be something very ambitious because it could bring success back to Ferrari. It’s a result that would be magical for anyone, both drivers and technicians.
“But ultimately, I think he would be calmer and more suited to Aston Martin.
“And even though I hate the casino and I’ve never bet in my life, but if I had to bet I’d bet on him going to Aston Martin.”
With it said that Newey hates nothing more than internal politics within a team, Piola expressed regret that a “horrible” situation in Red Bull could result in the 65-year-old’s departure.
And he pointed to a potential lack of compatibility between Newey and Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache, who has been highly praised by team principal Christian Horner over recent times.
When Horner claimed in January that Red Bull’s technical team, led by Wache, is “not reliant on Adrian”, Newey’s wife Amanda took to Twitter to respond, referring to Horner’s comments as “a load of hogwash.”
Piola said: “I think Newey has more tools than any artificial intelligence.
“His departure is probably due to personal reasons – especially in terms of relationships with the team, especially after everything that has happened – which I think is horrible.
“I have to say I haven’t done a lot of research on the subject because it all seems more like a ‘living room’ gossip that I’m not particularly interested in, but it has certainly created big problems within the team and there is a growing unease among everyone.
“Newey is a genius but also a very sensitive person, so he needs to have a relaxed atmosphere [of work] around him. It is possible that he is no longer in this ideal condition.
“And also within the Newey-Wache duo, there might be things that don’t quite fit. However, I don’t think it’s a solution or a technical decision.
“If something happens, we can’t say at the moment, but it will be a question of internal reasons, of personal relationships between the team members.”
Piola’s comments come after a resurfaced clip showed Newey declaring his affection for Red Bull in December 2023, remarking it would be like “walking out on your family” to leave the team at this stage of his career.
And he revealed that he had “come close” to joining Ferrari on three separate occasions over the course of his illustrious career, admitting his affection for the famous Scuderia.
Appearing on the Formula For Success podcast, he said: “Ferrari is this magic brand that, in all honesty, probably everybody in motor racing is always fascinated by and tempted to join if they’re offered the opportunity.
“I’ve been approached – and come close – three times now. One of those was in IndyCars way back.
“It’s an amazing brand. It has all this mystique about it. It’s effectively the Italian national team, with all the pros and cons that come with that.
“The cons are that if you don’t do a great job, you are absolutely berated and torn apart. Of course, if you do a good job, then you’re a national hero. So that brings all its own pressures.
“But I have to try to take the passion side out of it and approach it from an engineering side.
“The teams I’ve worked for, I’ve hugely enjoyed and of course Red Bull because that’s a team I’ve been at, more or less, from the start.
“It’s a team that I’ve been very centrally involved in developing the engineering side of the team, so it’s a team I kind of feel comfortable with. We all know how we work.
“I suppose to change now – I’m not saying I would never, ever change because you should never say that – but it would be like walking out on your family, because that’s what it’s become.”