'Ferrari have all the pieces of the puzzle for Adrian Newey'
F1 News
Adrian Newey will be leaving Red Bull Racing in the first quarter of 2025. Newey will be free to move to another team immediately if he wishes. Former colleague of Newey, Mark Preston, shared with OLBG his opinion on where Newey could go next, and what the key driving factors for his decision could be.
At the start of May, Newey announced that he would be leaving Red Bull after 19 years with the team. During his time with the team, the Chief Technical Officer has won seven Drivers' Championships and six Constructors'. Although Newey has not confirmed where he could be going next, he has hinted at taking some brief time away from the sport.
Nevertheless, it seems there are a few key components which could influence where Newey could go upon his return to F1. "Where he ends up will be all about the package that they have to offer, the main five areas being the engine, tyres, drivers, resources and the people. More than one of the top teams have a lot of the pieces of the puzzle which is going to make his next move a very hard decision, there's probably something else in the background that'll meet some of the incentives that he's looking for," Preston said.
Preston and Newrey worked together in F1, and the two designers were part of McLaren. In 2002, the 55-year-old Australian was promoted to Head of Vehicle Technology Laboratories, and he oversaw the development of the radical 2003 McLaren MP4-18A alongside Newey, who was Technical director.
Ferrari have all the pieces of the puzzle
Since the announcement, Newey has been heavily linked to a range of F1 teams including Ferrari, Aston Martin and Williams. Ferrari have been branded as the most likley contender, with Preston adding: "Ferrari have many pieces of the puzzle when it comes to attracting Adrian Newey, they have the best drivers and Lewis Hamilton is obviously a big draw. They have a great engine programme, a great team principal and a lot of good engineers, if Adrian and Lewis do link up that would attract the top engineering talent. So Ferrari certainly have all the pieces of the puzzle to pull everything together, it will be fascinating to see how it all plays out."
However, he is also certain that the drivers could influence Newey's decision, particularly as Newey has alluded to his desire to work with Hamilton or Fernando Alonso in the past: "If you get the best drivers it's more motivation and incentive for the best engineers to come and join. That attracts the best people, best race engineers, best sponsors, everything. It's a snowball effect and drivers are one of the key elements," Preston concluded.