Adrian Newey, the master designer of Red Bull, has chosen to join Ferrari, at least literally. Newey, who is set to leave Red Bull in early 2025 and is seriously being considered by Ferrari among others, took a seat behind the wheel of an iconic Ferrari, specifically Niki Lauda’s 312T F1 car, at Goodwood last weekend.
“It was a very special experience,” Newey shared afterwards. See the video of his performance in the Ferrari at the end of this article.
The 65-year-old Brit managed to steal the spotlight at the Goodwood Festival of Speed due to the presentation of the Red Bull hypercar he designed. He also drove the Aston Martin Valkyrie, a car he is building with Red Bull for the British brand.
A ‘Fitting Tribute to Niki Lauda’
Newey referred to his time in the Ferrari as a ‘fitting tribute’ to Niki Lauda. “To drive in Niki’s old car, the car with which he won the championship, is so special. I knew Niki quite well, so to sit here in the same seat and imagine what he must have experienced and how he prepared for the start and everything – it’s really special. A very fitting tribute to him,” said Adrian Newey.
Newey admits that it would have been “fascinating” to be a designer at that time, due to the minimal regulations. “The cars are so different today. I love the old cars. Just look at the technology at that time. It must have been a fascinating era to work in. After all, you had a regulation that was about two pages long, but on the other hand, the budgets were relatively small.”
Adrian Newey Calls for Patience Regarding His Future
Adrian Newey’s own future in Formula 1 remains uncertain. He is set to leave Red Bull in the first quarter of 2025, but what comes next is still up in the air. He has attracted interest from nearly all teams, with Aston Martin and McLaren appearing to be the frontrunners. His ties with Ferrari seem to have cooled, as he prefers not to relocate abroad.
However, Newey is asking for patience. “It was no big surprise when other teams showed interest after I announced that I would be leaving, but I won’t make a hasty decision about my future,” he told The Times. “I need a break to figure out if I want to try it again in F1. I also didn’t want to risk becoming stale.”
Newey added, “There are a number of drivers, such as Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, with whom I would have liked to work, but so far it has not been the right place or the right time to come together. And I got along very well with Max Verstappen, with whom it was a great pleasure to work at Red Bull. I don’t know what my future holds, but instead of flying all over the world to Grand Prix races, I can see my family this summer. In June, Mandy and I took our two Bernard doodles, Yogi and Benji, on a week-long car ride along the south coast, which was a lot of fun.”
