Max Verstappen has already warned Red Bull they Adrian Newey can't be replaced with Aston Martin reportedly making a fresh bid to try and poach the legendary designer.
Newey has worked in F1 for over four decades and is renowned as one of the best creative minds in the sport's history.
Red Bull won the bidding war to get Newey on board in 2005 and he's remained at the team ever since, helping them win six Constructors' Championships and seven Drivers' Championships.
Throughout that time, rival teams have made multiple attempts to steal the iconic technical director away from Red Bull.
All have been turned away with the 65-year-old and he signed a contract extension with Red Bull just last year.
However, that hasn't put off Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll from making a fresh attempt to prise Newey away from Red Bull.
According to motorsport.com, Aston Martin placed a 'big-money contract offer' on the table during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend.
The report claims that Aston Martin are pushing to build a team capable of challenging the status quo in F1 and they feel Newey could be the 'last missing piece of the puzzle'.
There's also the suggestion it may help Aston Martin attempt to lure Verstappen away from Red Bull if they manage to get Newey on board.
The three-time world champion has already made it clear that Red Bull would find it impossible to replace the 65-year-old.
"There is nobody like Adrian," Verstappen said earlier this year.
"That's also the beauty of the fact that everyone is different and everyone achieves success in a different way.
"So no, you can't replace Adrian, because there is only one Adrian.
"But it is wonderful to see new talent coming in that he has been working with for a long time.
"And it's wonderful to see how this talent goes its own way and how we achieve what we achieve."
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Red Bull will be desperate to keep Newey on board for when they start producing its own engines from 2026.
Speaking last year, Christian Horner admitted that Newey was going to be play an integral role in the engine switch.
“Adrian is a very competent engineer regarding all things to do with combustion,” Horner said.
“You can see that he's fully bought into the concept and sees the potential that it really brings longer term.”
