Lewis Hamilton has insisted that he harbours no disappointment that Formula 1 design guru Adrian Newey will not be making a move to Ferrari with him next season.
Newey’s next venture once he completes his Red Bull exit in March 2025 was revealed earlier this week as Aston Martin announced it has seized his coveted services.
The Briton’s choice to agree a long-term deal with the Silverstone-based squad has seemed to have ruled out the chance that he will ever end up at the Italian marque.
Ferrari was touted to be leading the race to acquire F1’s most decorated individual earlier this term, but boss Frederic Vasseur revealed that negotiations soon stalled.
Instead, the Maranello-based squad will impose a revised technical structure which has seen erstwhile Mercedes engineer Loic Serra be appointed Technical Director.
Newey miss won’t damped Ferrari expectations
Hamilton has reiterated that it would’ve been a privilege to work with Newey, but he has denied that a switch not materialising has dampened his Ferrari expectations.
Asked whether there was a tinge of disappointment that Ferrari had been unable to attract Newey, Hamilton replied: “Honestly, no.
“I feel like, while I’ve mentioned before that it would be an honour to work with Adrian, I have been privileged to work with two championship-winning teams that didn’t have Adrian.
“I think any team probably would have been happy to have had him.
“But at the end of the day he had to do what was best for him. It doesn’t change anything for me. It doesn’t change my goal, or my focus with the next move.
“So I still believe 100% that there’s lots we can do there.”
Leclerc respects Newey decision
Hamilton’s words echoed those of his future team-mate Charles Leclerc, who stressed that Ferrari’s return to the front was about the collective group over individuals.
“There are no disappointments,” he concurred. “It’s not like we haven’t tried or spoken to Adrian.
“I know that there were talks and he made his decision. I respect his decision.
“At the end as Ferrari, we have always considered more the group than the individual. Of course Adrian has an incredible track [record] and has done amazing things.
“But we have an amazing group and I have no doubts that going forward we have an extremely strong team to come back at the top. I’m really happy with the structure.
“Obviously it’s Fred’s job to try and put the team in the best possible place to try and win races and I 200 per cent trust Fred and I’m completely onboard with his vision.
“It’s a continuous process to try and improve Ferrari over the years and we are in the middle of this process. But I am super happy with the way he sees things and the things he does.”
