Formula 1 design guru Adrian Newei has stated he regrets not working at Ferrari or with Lewis Hamilton, but a Red Bull exit could provide the chance to change that.
Newey has designed the machines that multiple drivers have driven to title success, but his path has never become aligned with F1’s two most successful individuals.
The Briton competed against Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari in 1998 and 1999 with McLaren; however, he departed the Woking-based squad prior to Hamilton’s arrival.
Newey, 65, remained with Red Bull as Hamilton elevated his name to the top of the record books with an equal-best seven championships and a record 102 race wins.
Having turned down multiple approaches from Ferrari in the past, Newey admitted last September that he has somewhat rued not taking up the Italian marque’s offers.
Asked whether he held regrets over not accepting Ferrari’s repeated pursuits on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, Newey said: “Emotionally, I guess, to a point, yes.
“But just as, for instance, working with Fernando and Lewis would have been fabulous, but it never happened. It’s just circumstance sometimes, that’s the way it is.
However, those circumstances could orient in the near future amid Newey’s intention to leave Red Bull and Hamilton’s decision to switch to Ferrari from next season.
Newey came closest to completing a sensational move to Ferrari back in 2014 when he became disillusioned with Renault’s underpowered and unreliable power unit.
“[Ferrari made an approach] in my IndyCar days, which probably doesn’t count, then ’93 and famously in 2014,” he explained. “The ’93 one was very tempting.
“I went down, Jean Todt [Team Principal] had just started. I remember him talking about should he hire Michael [Schumacher] or not. Do you think that was a good idea?”
He added: “My discussions in 2014 with Ferrari were purely out of frustration.
“I really didn’t want to leave but we were in this position where Renault hadn’t produced a competitive turbo hybrid engine.
“That happens in the first year, OK, new rules. We all make mistakes.
“But we went to see Carlos Ghosn [ex-Renault CEO], Christian [Horner, Red Bull boss], Helmut [Marko, advisor] and myself to try to put pressure on him to up the budget.
“Ghosn’s reply was ‘Well, I have no interest in Formula 1. I’m only in it because my marketing people say I should be.‘ That was such a depressing place to be.”
Horner later divulged that a last-minute chat with Newey prevented the technical genius from exiting for Ferrari, which is on an F1 title drought stretching back to 2008.
However, the reports regarding Newey’s intention to leave this time around stem from him being unsettled since an investigation was launched into Horner’s behaviour.
