Adrian Newey is a top target for Ferrari ahead of his Red Bull exit next year. The world champions have officially confirmed that the legendary designer is leaving in the first quarter of 2025.
Ferrari haven’t won the drivers’ championship since 2007, nor the constructors’ championship since 2008. As they try to end that drought, they’ve already signed F1’s most successful driver in Lewis Hamilton.
But they may regard Newey as the final piece of the puzzle. The 65-year-old is one of the sport’s great pioneers, with 25 combined titles under his belt.
Team principal Fred Vasseur held talks with Newey ahead of the Miami Grand Prix last week. He’s offered him the role of ‘super consultant’ at Maranello, which ticks his boxes at this stage of his career.
Newey has previously turned down three approaches from the Scuderia. But he’s now ‘seriously considering’ the move to Italy.
His manager Eddie Jordan believes he’s inclined to take a break rather than join a new team immediately. But close friend Zak Brown says we ‘definitely’ haven’t seen the last of him in F1.
Fred Vasseur says Ferrari collective is more important than Adrian Newey
Ferrari face competition for Newey’s signature, with Mercedes now approaching him after initially giving him the ‘cold shoulder’. The interest from the Prancing Horse is certainly more advanced, but Toto Wolff’s manoeuvres could complicate things.
Speaking to La Repubblica, Vasseur praised Newey as a standard-setter in his field. He says there are few, if any, who can match his level of knowledge.
However, he insists that the importance of the ‘collective’ always supersedes the individual. That’s the identity he’s trying to establish at Ferrari, with or without the designer.
He said: “Adrian is a reference for all of Formula 1 for his experience and his palmarès [prizes], he is perhaps the one who has the most experience of all. Having said that, I believe much more in the group than in individuals.
“Part of the success always comes from the power of the collective, in the fact that everyone knows and is convinced of the role they have in the system, I will always be the one who will push on the importance of this thesis.”
Aston Martin and Williams also interested in Adrian Newey
Mercedes aren’t the only team who may submit a rival offer for Newey. Aston Martin are apparently ready to pay him more than £400k a week, though insiders at the team expect him to join Ferrari.
James Vowles also wants Williams to be part of the discussion. He feels that the Englishman would be a ‘perfect fit’ at a team where he achieved so much success in the 1990s.
Audi shouldn’t be discounted either as they prepare to enter F1 in 2026. Their team boss Andreas Seidl recently said they could compete with the top teams in the sport in terms of budget.
The timing of Newey’s exit is particularly significant. It will coincide with some of the biggest regulation changes in the sport’s recent history, so teams will be desperate to have him in the door quickly, allowing him to influence their concept.
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