The engineer that most teams would have liked to sign, finally decided to sign with Aston Martin. Adrian Newey explains why he made this choice rather than Ferrari.
Adrian Newey has revealed the reasons why he chose to join Aston Martin next year, despite being tipped to join Ferrari where he could have teamed up with Lewis Hamilton in 2025.
Newey at Aston Martin rather than Ferrari
After a long adventure with Red Bull Racing, Adrian Newey decided to link the rest of his career in F1 with Aston Martin. Still, his name was frequently mentioned at Ferrari, leaving many fans excited to see Newey work alongside Hamilton for the first time. Indeed, Hamilton himself said it would be a “privilege” to work with Newey, comments the Briton admitted he was “very flattered” about.
However, as the months went by, the rumors surrounding Ferrari cooled and the former Williams and McLaren engineer became more tempted by a move to Aston Martin.
“For my part, I was very flattered by the number of teams that approached me,” explained Mr. Newey. “I’ve talked to some of these teams, not all of them. In the end, the choice was made very clearly and naturally, for all the reasons I mentioned earlier in the conference.”
As for those reasons, Newey cited the need for a “new challenge” after thinking about his options for some time.
“Towards the end of April I decided I needed to do something different,” the 65-year-old conceded. “I spent a lot of time with Mandy, my wife, discussing what happens next… What should I do? Are we going to sail around the world? Am I doing something different? We took some time to rest. I think I was lucky enough to achieve what I aspired to do since I was 10 or 12 years old, which was to be a designer (I didn’t even know the word engineer) in the field of motor racing.
I can honestly say that everything else was just a bonus, since I got there right out of college. Of course, I didn’t expect to be involved in what I was lucky enough to experience. But you have to be honest with yourself and renew yourself, so I felt I needed a new challenge.
The reality is, if you go back 20 years, what we call team managers today were actually the owners of the teams, Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan, etc. In this modern era, Lawrence is unique in that he is the only team owner still active.
It’s a different feeling when someone like Lawrence is involved like that, it’s a return to the old school model. And having the chance to be a shareholder and partner is something that has never really been offered to me before. It is [une opportunité] which I look forward to. It became a very natural choice.
Adrian Newey will take up his new role at Aston Martin on March 1, 2025.
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